Virat Kohli only cricketer amongst top-10 highest-earning athletes on Instagram

Indian captain Virat Kohli is the only cricketer to have made it to the top-10 of the highest-earning global athletes through sponsored Instagram posts during the lockdown period. He is also the only Indian athlete on this list.

As per PTI reports, the star Indian batsman occupies the sixth position on the list. These numbers were collected by 'Attain' for the period between March 12 and May 14, a time when the whole world had come to a virtual standstill to minimise the spread of the coronavirus.

Virat Kohli is estimated to have earned 379,294 pounds through his sponsored posts on Instagram during this period. Having done just 3 such posts during these couple of months, it translates to approximately 126,431 pounds per post.

Portugal and Juventus FC star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo tops this list with an estimated earning of 1.8 million pounds. Argentina and FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, the other football superstar, follows him with an earning of 1.2 million pounds.

Football stars round up the top 3, with Brazil and PSG's Neymar occupying the third spot with an earning of 1.1 million pounds. Basketball great Shaquille O'Neal (583,628 pounds) and former England football captain David Beckham (405,359 pounds) complete the top five.

While Virat Kohli occupies the 6th spot, he is followed by Swedish footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic (184,413 pounds), ex-NBA star Dwayne Wade (143,146 pounds), Brazilian footballer Dani Alves (133,694 pounds) and boxer Anthony Joshua (121,500) in the top 10.

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Virat Kohli - Cricket's most marketable superstar

Virat Kohli is the face on many top brands

A few days ago, when Forbes had released its list of the highest-earning athletes of 2020, Virat Kohli was the only cricketer to feature in their top 100 as well. The Indian captain occupied the 66th spot on that list with an estimated earning close to $26 million.

Virat Kohli's aggression on the field and emphasis on fitness has made him a darling of the masses. All the major brands have been targeting him as the face of the young and aspirational Indian youth.

But the biggest contributing factor has been his unmatched performance on the cricket field. With an average above 50 across the three formats, he is one of the most consistent batsmen across the world.

Virat Kohli features in Cricket Australia's top 20 batting performances, check his rank https://t.co/sfPh6TKwDw

— Republic (@republic) June 3, 2020

With almost 22,000 international runs to his name, he is the most likely candidate to break most of the batting records held by the great Sachin Tendulkar.