Virat Kohli took to Instagram early on Thursday morning after a workout session to thank his fans for their blessings and continued support. He had a mighty 7 Million fans to thank for, and looked absolutely chuffed to be receiving so much love on a regular basis.
The connect between celebrities and fans has improved significantly since the advent of social media, with fans now having an inside peek into the lives of their favourite sportspersons. In earlier days, while this connect was only established through interviews and press conferences, nowadays celebrities can share anything they have on their minds instantly with their fans.
Read: Most followed players on Twitter
Twitter was the platform that had the most impact initially, as players would often tweet about what they’re upto or respond to fans’ questions every now then. With the world becoming more graphic-media oriented, Instagram has become the forefront for communication between celebrities and fans.
With simple pictures and videos, athletes have won a number of fans, dispelled rumours, shared their private life and become much more accessible.
While a whole bunch of cricketers have over a million followers on Twitter, Instagram paints a slightly different picture.
Here, we list the cricketers with the most followers on Instagram:
10) Harbhajan Singh
The ‘turbanator’ was the original king of cool among India cricketers after he broke onto the scene in the early 2000s. Everything he did earned instant fame, and he was easily one of the most popular players in the world.
His easy going style and sense of humour endeared him to the fans. His Instagram posts are generally portraits of himself. When he is travelling with the Indian team or the Mumbai Indians, he generally posts pictures with his teammates. He reserves the most amount of love for his wife, Geeta Basra as he shares a number of intimate snaps with his recently-turned bride.
View his Instagram profile here.
9) Ravindra Jadeja
The Indian all-rounder wastes no time in reminding everyone of his ‘Rajput’ heritage with a very cool handle. The ‘royalnavghan’ wasn’t easy to find as there were a number of profiles with his actual name.
Ravindra Jadeja’s all-action style on the field and the air of mystique he carries off it make him immensly popular. He enjoys sharing selfies of himself, is often spotted wearing a cool pair of shades and twirling his moustache.
He has recently become more active and shared a few snaps during the Duleep Trophy.
Most notably, while he has nearly 9 lakh follows, he follows nobody. BOSS.
View his Instagram profile here.
8) Chris Gayle
Only 1.3 Million followers? What are you doing people of the world?! Chris Gayle has by far the most interesting profile on Instagram for any cricketer in the world. He has over 1000 posts and is very active on the platform.
His posts offer you a much greater peek into the life of a celebrity. He isn’t shy in sharing pictures of him relaxing by the pool or partying in a club. He is often seen talking to his fans also and most recently, invited us all to his party!
His posts are less cricket-oriented and more lifestyle-oriented and makes him a fascinating person to follow.
View his Instagram profile here.
7) Rohit Sharma
The Indian opener has a fascinating Instagram profile as he shares a lot of snaps from his personal life. On the field, he is one of the most attacking and aggressive batsman. He cemented his place in history when he scored 264 in an ODI match.
It’s fair to say that Rohit Sharma is smitten by his wife Ritika Sajdeh. He is constantly sharing pictures with her and reminding her of his love. He also seems to have a love for the game of football and shares a few pictures watching football. He also keeps his posts less cricket-oriented and tends to share pictures from his holidays or the time he spends relaxing.
View his Instagram profile here.
6) Suresh Raina
With the advent of the IPL, Suresh Raina was only of the most popular and sought after cricketers in the world. It is a format he seemed to embody and really thrive in.
He’s used the platform a fair bit, as evident by nearly 500 posts on Instagram. He enjoys sharing a number of pictures from the cricket world, irrespective of where he is playing, for his state, his IPL side of his country. Since the birth of his daughter, he has also shared a number of adorable posts with her and his family.
View his Instagram profile here.
5) Yuvraj Singh
It’s fair to say that there never will be anyone quite like Yuvraj Singh. While he made headlines aplenty with his performances on the pitch, he was also equally famous for having dated a few stars from the film industry.
Yuvraj endorses a number of brands and he uses his Instagram profile to promote these brands remarkably well. He recently shared videos with Deepika Padukone and Amitabh Bachchan to promote YWCFashion, his fashion brand. He has also shared pictures with Usain Bolt for Puma. He also has the tendency to share quite a few selfies of himself, making it a fairly entertaining profile.
Yuvraj also follows quite a number of people, indicating that he uses the platform quite actively.
View his Instagram profile here.
4) AB De Villiers
AB De Villiers is a man of many talents. Not only can he play any cricketing shot in the world, he is also excellent at a number of sports and has a number of other interests including playing music.
His Instagram profile is a fascinating mix of his travel diaries, his interests and time spent with the family. While on tour with the team, he is generally seen sharing a snap with the boys. On his off-time, he is seen holidaying with his wife and child quite often near the beach. He also promotes a number of his other interests like his autobiography currently.
He doesn’t share selfies too often.
View his Instagram profile here.
3) MS Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni led India to the World T20 in 2007 and the World Cup in 2011, cementing his legacy in the history of Indian cricket. With those successes, came plenty of brand endorsements, advertisements and fame.
If there were any doubts that MS Dhoni wasn’t ‘in’ anymore, one must go through his feed. He travels around the world, does the things he loves to do – like biking and spending time with the army also enjoys the perks of being one of the most recognizable sportsmen in the world.
His recent posts include him promoting Rajnikanth’s Kabali, looking cool in the promotion of his upcoming film and a post of him from the US Open. Superb!
Dhoni follows one person, one – Amitabh Bachchan.
View his Instagram profile here.
2) Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar will go down as one of, if not the, greatest cricketer to have ever played the game. At the peak of his powers, his success was synonymous with India’s success. No-one quite received international fame like Sachin did.
Sachin doesn’t waste one opportunity to wish the people on the world on important ocassions such as Diwali, New Year and even, Parsi New Year! He is seen sharing pictures with a few good friends, read Roger Federer. He also enjoys his family time and shares pictures with his family and his other love, food.
He follows 7 people, including his good friend Shane Warne.
View his Instagram profile here.
1) Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli’s popularity has no bounds – it is growing endlessly everyday. As he marches on, achieving incredible feat after incredible feat, his list of followers is only growing. The legacy he will leave on the game is yet to be seen.
Virat Kohli is using Instagram in a very interesting way. He is often seen sharing videos where he is talking to his fans, thanking them for their support and so on. The Delhi lad has never been shy and he shares a whole number of selfies. He shares pictures of those close to him and is also always the first to send a picture after a big win on or on the team bus heading towards a game.
View his Instagram profile here.
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