Actress Avneet Kaur has witnessed a massive spike in her Instagram following after an unexpected social media moment involving former Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli. What began as a seemingly harmless 'like' on a fan page post turned into a viral controversy, one that ultimately worked in Avneet's favour.

On May 1, sharp-eyed netizens noticed that Kohli had liked Avneet's photo shared by one of her fan pages on Instagram. The timing of the interaction added fuel to the fire as it came just hours after the cricketer had shared a heartfelt birthday post for his wife, actress Anushka Sharma. The like sparked memes, gossip, and wild speculation online, especially since Kohli doesn't follow Avneet on Instagram.

While the "accidental like" has now been addressed, social media users are still buzzing about how one unintended interaction from a global sports icon can drastically shift the visibility and popularity of another celebrity.

For Avneet, it was an unexpected boost in reach. According to a report in BuzzCraft, the actress remained in the spotlight for 48 hours and a 30 per cent increase was noted in the value of her social media posts, jumping from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.6 lakh.

An X (formerly known as Twitter) user also humourously pointed out that Kohli's like had financially benefited Avneet more than many startups in the quarter.

A report in Filmibeat also stated that after the viral moment, Avneet secured 12 new endorsement deals across beauty, fashion, and fintech sectors.

The controversy reached such heights that Kohli was compelled to issue a public clarification. In an Instagram story posted on May 3, he wrote, "I'd like to clarify that while clearing my feed, it appears the algorithm may have mistakenly registered an interaction. There was absolutely no intent behind it. I request that no unnecessary assumptions be made. Thank you for your understanding."

Despite Kohli’s clarification and his efforts to shut down the chatter, the incident inadvertently brought a surge of attention to Avneet. The young actress, who had 30 million followers before the controversy, saw her Instagram count soar to 31.8 million within just a few days, a gain of nearly 1.8 million followers.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Avneet, who has appeared in a couple of films and several television shows, will be seen next in Love in Vietnam. According to media reports, she is also a part of Tom Cruise's Hollywood film, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.