Virat Kohli

About Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the India national team. A right-handed top-order batsman, Kohli is regarded as one of the best contemporary batsmen in the world. He plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has been the team's captain since 2013. Kohli is consistently rated as one of the top-ranked batsmen in the world, according to the ICC Player Rankings. Among Indian batsmen, Kohli has his best-ever Test rating (937 points), ODI rating (911 points), and T20I rating (897 points).
Endorsements
Kohli was signed up by sports agent Bunty Sajdeh of Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment after the 2008 Under-19 World Cup. Sajdeh recalls, "I didn’t go after them after they became stars. In fact, I watched Virat at the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. I was mighty impressed with his attitude and the way he was marshaling his team. He had that spark. And I told Yuvi to set up the meeting." Sajdeh manages Kohli's endorsement deals, along with those of other Indian cricketers Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and Murali Vijay. It was reported in 2013 that Kohli's brand endorsements were worth over ₹1 billion (US$14 million). His bat deal with MRF is said to be the costliest deal in Indian cricket history. In 2017, he signed an eight-year endorsement deal with Puma worth about ₹1.1 billion (US$15 million), becoming the first Indian sportsperson to sign a ₹1 billion (US$14 million) deal with a brand. In 2014, American Appraisal estimated Kohli's brand value at US$56.4 million placing him fourth on the list of India's most valued celebrity brands. The same year, UK-based magazine SportsPro rated Kohli as the second most marketable athlete in the world behind only Lewis Hamilton, placing him above the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Usain Bolt. In an October 2016 report by Duff & Phelps on India's most valued celebrity brands, Kohli's brand value was estimated to be US$92 million, second only to that of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan. In 2017, Kohli was ranked 7th in the list released by Forbes as the Most Valuable Brand among athletes, ahead of sportspeople like Lionel Messi, Rory McIlroy, and Stephen Curry, with an estimated brand value of $14.5 million. In 2018, Kohli was again listed 83 in the top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world. In 2019, Kohli dropped 17 places to No. 100 on Forbes' World's 100 Highest-Paid Athletes" list, making him the only Indian and the only cricketer to feature in that list. His earnings were estimated at about $25 million, earning $21 million from endorsements and the rest from salary and winnings.

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