If there was any doubt remaining about Virat Kohli's supreme star power, it was demolished with the release of Duff and Phelps' Celebrity Brand Valuation Report for 2019. It shows the Indian captain having a much higher value of endorsement deals than any other celebrity of the country. This is the third year in a row when Kohli has topped this list.
According to the report, the star batsman has registered an astounding 40% growth in 2019 for his brand value which now stands at $237 million. The second position was earlier occupied by actress Deepika Padukone but now, she has been pushed down to the third place by actor Akshay Kumar whose brand value stands at $104.5 million.
Interestingly, the star couple Deepika and Ranveer Singh are also in the list, individually, and the husband and wife are tied at the third spot at $93 million each. Despite his recent lack of success and absence from the box-office, Shah Rukh Khan has managed to retain his fifth position while the much more successful Salman Khan is a place below at sixth.
The debutant in the top-10 list is Bollywood's content king Ayushmann Khurrana who comes at no. 10 with a brand value of $40.3 million. With consistent performances with the bat and good results as the captain of the Indian team, Kohli's dependency as a brand ambassador has never been more certain.
Under him, the Indian team won the Test series in Australia last year and also recorded ODI series wins in the same country as well as New Zealand. There were some disappointments along the way also with a home series loss to Australia and failure to reach World Cup final. But the team bounced back with wins against South Africa, Bangladesh, and West Indies at home and also, against the last team, away.
This consistency and prolificity with the bat have drawn Kohli endorsement deals with Puma, One8, and Boost. The latter is well known for having had Sachin Tendulkar as their brand ambassador for a long time and using the tagline: "Boost is the secret of my energy."
The fact that Kohli has now been chosen as their new face shows how great his stock is in the current scenario. Another player whose stock has risen in the last year, thanks to heavy-scoring across formats is Rohit Sharma. He comes in at no. 20 in the list. The huge discrepancy between Kohli and other sports stars seems to be the caused by additional aspects of Kohli's personality.
Not only is he a great cricketer, but he has emerged as a fitness icon. His leadership has also been praised and the fact that he has been given the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award suggests that he has matured into a more balanced personality. All these things have made him the most attractive commodity in the brand ambassador's market.
