India cricket captain accused of being 'unpatriotic' by marrying Bollywood star in Italy

India’s cricket captain Virat Kohli has been labeled "unpatriotic" by a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party for choosing Italy over his own country to get married to a Bollywood actress last week.

“Virat Kohli cannot be the idol of youth in the country since he had chosen Italy as his marriage destination” said Panna Lal Shakya, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member from central Madhya Pradesh state on Wednesday.  

After a whirlwind romance, Kohli married Anushka Sharma at a boutique resort in Tuscany on December 11 in a small ceremony attended by their family and close friends. They later shared pictures of the resplendent affair on social media.

Mr Shakya said Kohli had earned money and fame in India, but unlike several Hindu gods who were married on Indian soil, he preferred Italy to host his wedding ceremony. The cricketer, he added, has no respect for his country and had proved he is not a patriot.

In response, well known Bollywood director Shoojit Sircar tweeted: "The next time Kohli hits one unpatriotic sixer out of the park, it will be in the name of the patriotic [BJP] legislator."

Kohli is one of the world’s highest scoring batsmen and is a revered idol for millions of Indians, for whom cricket is a national obsession.

Meanwhile, Mr Shakya’s outburst against Kohli has sparked a political row, with the spokesman of the opposition National Congress party, tweeting that couples now needed prior approval from the BJP on who to marry and where they can be wed.

Randeep Surjewala added that the menu at the wedding and the splendour of the festivities too would need BJP sanction, in a reference to the abstemiousness the BJP has consistently preached since Modi came to power in May 2014.

In recent years the BJP has introduced a ban on consuming beef in several states, Meanwhile advice has been issued by Hindu social groups on the number of guests and the diversity of food that can be severed at marriages and other public functions.

Kohli and his wife Anushka are amongst India’s most glamorous celebrities and accounts of their off-and-on romance have made headlines for several years.