New Delhi: Virat Kohli is turning out to be a cricketer that any country would love to have in its ranks, and the India captain has worked hard to earn that reputation on the back of stupendous performances tearing apart record books. And talking about earning, his valuation as a brand has now surpassed football icon Lionel Messi.
In the list of most valuable sportspersons released by Forbes on Wednesday, Kohli sits at No. 7; but what will stun most sports enthusiasts is that he is ahead of No. 9 Messi by $1 million and golf superstar Rory McIlory by 0.9 million.
The top-10 list is headed by 19-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer and includes just one cricketer in Kohli.
1. Roger Federer $37.2m
2. LeBron James $33.4m
3. Usain Bolt $27m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo $21.5m
5. Phil Mickelson $19.6m
6. Tiger Woods $16.6m
7. Virat Kohli $14.5m
8. Rory McIlroy $13.6m
9. Lionel Messi $13.5m
10. Steph Curry $13.4m
Kohli is fast becoming India's next milestone man after Tendulkar having already scored 31 ODI centuries, going past Australia's Ricky Ponting and now only behind Tendulkar's 49 tons in 50-over internationals.
