MS Dhoni's popularity soars as his screen time exceeds that of Virat Kohli

With Virat Kohli's popularity rising with an unprecedented progression, it comes as a surprise that he is not the Indian icon with the highest commercial air-time.

In recent data collected by AdEx India, Dhoni sits on top of a list of 10 sports stars. The captain of the Indian ODI team may have a lot of factors working in his favour to give rise to this increase in popularity for him. It is worth remembering that Dhoni previously occupied this position but was overtaken by Kohli in 2015. Commercial airtime is calculated based on the amount of time a star appears on television per second.

It takes no genius to figure out that Dhoni clearly endorses more brands than Virat Kohli. “The current fee for signing Virat is Rs 3 crore per day, whereas Dhoni charges half of Kohli, which is about Rs 1.5 crore. This makes Dhoni more attractive and an accessible option for brands,” an ad-maker who has worked with both players, said; thus clearing away all speculation regarding the reason behind this phenomenon.

In another survey conducted to calculate the advertisement share of Bollywood and television stars along with leading sports personalities of the country, Kohli's rank slipped from third last year to 19th. The list was topped by actress Kareena Kapoor Khan who was followed by Shah Rukh Khan. Dhoni meanwhile remained stable at 6th in the list.

Kohli has been known to be quite choosy when it comes to choosing advertisements, a fact that has been collaborated by his endorsement manager. Bunty Sajdeh, ‎CEO of Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment, which manages Kohli’s brand engagements said, “I have turned down almost 16 brand engagement offers in the last 24 months. Our idea is not to over-expose him.”

Furthermore, even though Dhoni's brand of endorsements had been severely affected after he retired from Tests, he currently endorses nearly 20 brands which is quite impressive for a portfolio of a leading sportsperson of his calibre. Additionally, 'brand Dhoni' is expected to get a massive boost both before and after the biopic based on his life which is set to be released in September this year.

After the release of the biopic, his brand endorsements will go on a different level,” said Arun Pandey, manager of Dhoni's endorsements. “Dhoni’s new brand engagements are doing very well, and he has just signed five new brands,” he added.