Anushka, Virat welcome baby girl

The captain of the Indian cricket team Virat Kohli and Bollywood star Anushka Sharma were blessed with a baby daughter, three years after their marriage.

Virat took to Twitter to make the announcement, where he wrote that the mother and the baby are both doing well.

"We are thrilled to share with you that we have been blessed with a baby girl this afternoon. We thank you all for your love, prayers and good wishes. Anushka and the baby are both healthy and we are feeling beyond blessed to start this new chapter of our lives," he tweeted, ending with a request for "respecting our privacy at this time."

Virat and Anushka, both 32 years old, met at a shooting set for a commercial and dated for four years. They got married in 2017, and announced in August last year that they were expecting a baby in January.

The Indian Cricket Board granted Virat paternity leave, and he flew back home from the ongoing tour of Australia towards the end of December, after playing the first of a four-match Test series.