ESPN recently released a list of the top 100 most popular athletes in the world and while the list featured a number of sports personalities from various fields, there were only four cricketers who made the cut. All the four of the cricketers featured were Indians and it came as no surprise to see Indian captain Virat Kohli make it to the list.
Kohli was ranked 13th followed by former Indian captain MS Dhoni in 15. The other two Indian cricketers who made it to the list were Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina who were ranked 90 and 95 respectively.
Also read: Virat Kohli-Anil Kumble drift apart?
So, how did ESPN prepare the list? They started out by looking at Forbes' annual list of the highest-paid athletes and expanded from there including getting inputs from other ESPN journalists from around the world.
That data was then fed into a formula created by ESPN director of sports analytics Ben Alamar that weighs athletes' endorsements, their following on the social media, Big Three and Google search popularity, producing a comparative ranking system.
It was a big surprise to see Kohli and Dhoni rank much higher than some of the most famous athletes in the world. The current and former Indan captains beat the likes of Serena Williams, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Conor McGregor, Tom Brady and Andy Murray.
Here is a look at the four Indians that made the cut.
Virat Kohli
The Indian skipper actually dropped down five places compared to last year's list but he is still the highest ranked Indian on the list. He has an endorsement deal worth $17.4 million and recently signed a deal with Puma worth $15 million, which is also the largest endorsement deal for any Indian athlete. Kohli has 13.4 million followers on Instagram, 13.9 on Twitter and 33.9 on Facebook. His relationship with Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma has only added to his evergrowing popularity.
MS Dhoni
Like Kohli, Dhoni's rank too has come down but just by one place compared to last year. The former Indian skipper is widely regarded as the best captain India will ever have. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. The biopic made on him, titled MS Dhoni: The Untold Story was released in 61 countries and became one of the highest grossing Bollywood films of 2016.
Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh did not make it to the list last year but ever since he beat cancer to get back to doing what he does best on the cricket field, he has given Indian cricket fans and fans around the world someone to look up to. Yuvraj is also a businessman, a philanthropist and a husband now. He started a professional sportswear company called YWC last year. He also launched the YouWeCan foundation to fight cancer.
Suresh Raina
Like Yuvraj, Raina too was not figured in the list last time and while he might have the big endorsement deals like Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvraj. He has a huge fan following on social media. He has 2.7 million followers on Instagram, 2.8 million on Facebook and 7.7 million on twitter. He guided the Gujarat Lions to the IPL play-offs in 2016 and also became the first Indian cricketer to score 6,000 T20 runs.
It's no surprise to see Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo top the list. He is followed by Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James and Barcelona star Lionel Messi (third). Roger Federer who made an outstanding comeback to tennis at the start of 2017 is in fourth position followed by golfer Phil Mickelson. Another Barcelona star in Neymar is next on the list followed by sprinter Usain Bolt.
Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant is eighth on the list followed by nine time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and disgraced golfer Tiger Woods completes the top 10.
Check out the complete list here.
The #WorldFame100 is here.
— ESPN (@espn) 30 May 2017
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