India’s Test captain and numero uno superstar batsman Virat Kohli has been named as ‘Third Most Marketable Sportsperson’ in the world ahead of football superstar Lionel Messi and World No 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic in a latest survey published by magazine ‘SportsPro’.
Kohli is ranked behind NBA’s ‘Most Valuable Player’ Stephen Curry and Juventus’ French international Paul Pogba.
Incidentally, Kohli is just ahead of golfer Jordan Spieth. Djokovic is 23rd in the list, followed by Messi at 27th and ‘Sprint King’ Usain Bolt at 31. Notably another Indian in top-50 is tennis star Sania Mirza.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton topped the rankings in 2014; Barcelona’s Brazilian soccer star Neymar, in at No 8 this year, took the number one spot in 2012 and 2013; Olympic champion Bolt headed the list in 2011, while NBA star LeBron James was named as the world’s most marketable athlete in the feature’s inaugural year in 2010. (IndianExpress)
