One of India’s leading actors Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli, the captain of the Indian Cricket team, announced the birth of their first child on Monday. 

“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,” wrote Kohli while sharing the news with their fans on Twitter. The post had received more than 340,000 likes as of Monday evening, India time.

The couple got married in Italy in December 2017 and hosted a grand wedding reception in Mumbai, which was attended by the elite of India’s A-list - including the prime minister, Narendra Modi. 

The couple announced their pregnancy in August 2020. “And then, we were three! Arriving Jan 2021 ❤️," they wrote in identical tweets at the time.

“Anushka and the baby are both healthy and we are feeling beyond blessed to start this new chapter of our lives," the Indian captain wrote to his 40 million Twitter followers. 

Sharma, 32, is one of the leading actors in the Hindi film industry, with hits such as PK, Sultan and Dil Dhadakne Do, and has produced the Amazon Prime Video original web series Pataal Lok and Netflix film Bulbbul under her production house Clean Slate Films.

Kohli is widely regarded as one of the world’s best cricketers, and has regularly been the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world since 2017 with over 12,000 runs and 43 centuries. 

The 32-year-old Indian skipper, who was touring Australia with his team, returned to the country after the first test on paternity leave and has been alongside his wife since then. 

Fans and celebrities took to Twitter to congratulate the new parents.