Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni named as the most famous cricketers in the world

What's the story?

Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, and Ravichandran Ashwin are one of the most famous cricketers in the world. The Indian captain is rated as the seventh most famous sports personality in the world as per ESPN Fame 100.

In case you didn't know...

ESPN picked the most famous athletes currently in the world, based on three criteria. One is social media following, and the other two being Google trends and the value of brand endorsements. Virat Kohli is the only Indian and the only cricketer to be in the top ten sportspersons.

The list comprises some great players like Cristiano Ronaldo, who was rated as the most famous athlete in the world. Neymar, Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal also cracked into the top ten of the elite list.

The heart of the matter

Kohli is in the form of his life at the moment. He is also quite active on social media, being the most followed cricketer currently, with over a whopping 90 million followers across platforms. Hence, there is no doubt that he is ranked as the top cricketer when it comes to popularity.

The list is dominated by Indian cricketers, with the likes Dhoni, Yuvraj and Raina featuring in it. Dhoni is at 13th place and is also the second most famous cricketer in the world. Yuvraj and Raina, who are currently not playing for India, still manage to crack into the list due to their overwhelming presence on social media.

The list also included Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, and also the formerly active Indian cricketers Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh.

Interestingly, three Bangladesh cricketers, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Mashrafe Mortaza were also featured in the Top 100 most famous athletes in the world.

What’s next?

The Kohli-led Indian team just suffered a series loss against Australia. He will now lead the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL before heading to England for the World Cup.