The ESPN has come up with top 100 famous athletes in the world and 4 Indian cricketers make it. Indian captain Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina make the list and they are the only cricketers in top 100.
The ESPN takes into account endorsements, following on social media and internet search popularity while giving the rankings. Cristiano Ronaldo is the top ranked athlete in the world as per ESPN. Second spot is grabbed by Leborn James, the American basketball player while Leo Messi is third. There are no cricketers in top 10.
The highest ranked Cricketer is Virat Kohli on 13th rank. Virat charges 5 Crores per day as Endorsement fee which makes him highest paid cricketer via endorsements. He current endorsements include Audi cars, MRF tyres, Tissot watches, Gionee phones, Boost milk drink, Colgate toothpaste and Vicks lozenges and others. His social media following is 64.5 million (Facebook + Twitter + Instagram).
The next cricketer on the list is former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He is 2 places below Kohli at 15th. As per stats, his earnings from Endorsements in 2015 and 2016 was a whooping 170.1 crores making him one of the richest athlete globally. His social media following is 31.74 million.
The third Indian cricketer is very far away from both Virat and Mahi. It”s Yuvraj Singh whose ranked 90th on the list. He currently endorses Puma and charges 3-4 crores before entering into any endorsement deals. His following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram add up to 21 million.
The fourth one is dashing left handed batsman Suresh Raina who is sitting on Rank 95. Raina currently endorses CEAT tyres and pureplay brand. Raina endorsement fees have seen a hike from 1 crore per year to 1.25 – 1.75 crores per year. His is a popular figure on social media with a following of over 14 Million.
In the coming years we would love to see more cricketers in this list. Considering cricket is one of the top sports in the world, we would expect the list to get longer.
– by Atharva Apte