Australian cricketer Travis Head and his wife, Jess Head, have had their Instagram accounts blasted with vile comments after a series of tense on-field exchanges between Head and Indian star Virat Kohli during an Indian Premier League match last week.

While it is unknown what was said between the pair, Kohli refused to shake hands with Head after the match between Head’s Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru last Friday.

Although the Royal Challengers lost the match, they scored enough to end on top of the league stage of the tournament.

Some of the comments on Travis Head’s Instagram posts, including one of his wedding to Jess Head, include threats against his wife and his mother.

Indian Australian sports journalist and commentator Bharat Sundaresan said the comments were prompted by Kohli’s snub but escalated by the former Indian captain’s fans.

“That wasn’t great behaviour from Virat Kohli to start with, but then the evil forces of social media took over, as they do these days,” Sundaresan said.

“It’s always been pretty wild fandom for cricket in India, and especially around certain cricketers, but it’s become more tribalistic than ever before these days.”

Sundaresan said he had spoken with Head who “was fine”.

“You can’t do much about it,” Sundaresan said.

“You can either stay away from it in terms of not responding to anyone and I think that’s something I would advise to anyone … do not respond to any of it.”

“It is almost like if you are an international cricketer these days or sportsperson anywhere in the world, you just need some days away from social media and a day where you had a spat with Virat Kohli is definitely one of them,” he said.

Call for ‘kindness and support’

Virat Kohli has 273 million followers on Instagram, while Travis Head has more than 1 million.

Jess Head is also prominent on the social media site.

She runs her own public relations company, called Helix PR, which launched last year.

She told Adelaide’s The Advertiser newspaper people should think about the impact their social media comments had, particularly on those outside of the limelight.

“I think across all sports at the moment there’s an important conversation around mental health, perspective and the way we speak to one another,” she said.

“Passion will always be part of sport, but so is remembering there are real people and families behind the game. Hopefully this encourages more kindness, and support for one another.”

Head and his family also copped abuse in 2023, after he top-scored in Australia’s ODI World Cup final win against India.