A picture of an adorable chocolate brown Labrador has gone viral after a chance encounter with a cricket superstar and Bollywood actress. The dog in the picture is Barnie, who lives with his owner, estate agent Steven Gooch in Newent.

Steve, who is an avid cricket fan and President of the Aston Ingham Cricket Club, near Ross-on-Wye, was in Nottingham to watch the recent England V India test match. A trip to a nearby convenience store one evening resulted in a chance meeting with the Indian cricket team captain, Virat Kohli, and his Bollywood actress wife, Anushka Sharma. The superstar couple were delighted to pose for a picture with Barnie, which Steve snapped on his mobile phone.

After Steve shared the picture on the Twitter account for Steve Gooch Estate Agents, Virat picked up the image and shared it on his own social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. With over 23 million followers on Instagram, the picture quickly racked up over 2.7million likes, as well as thousands of shares and comments on Virat’s account alone. Fans went crazy for the picture which Virat captioned with “Met this beautiful boy who was patient enough to take a picture with us.” The image has now been trending on the internet, with Indian newspapers and TV reporters jumping on the picture to report on the stars and their love for animals.

Steve said: "I popped to a local supermarket and left Barnie patiently waiting by the entrance. When I returned, he was enjoying being given a fuss from a lady. We chatted about our mutual love for animals when she was joined by her husband. It was then I realised it was Virat Kohli and the lady was his famous actress wife Anushka Sharma. The couple were both very friendly and happily posed for a picture with Barnie. I didn’t think for one minute the image would get the reaction it has received. When I took the picture, India were 2-0 down in the series however they then went on to win the match – I think Barnie may be India’s lucky omen!”