The brand image of the Indian skipper has raised the roof in recent times and will continue to up the ante in time to come. The top three is the exact same as last year where the three stars dominated as usual. Topping charts not only with his exuberant performances on field, but off-field Virat Kohli has set standards which now sees the right-hand swashbuckler ranked at No.3 in the Forbes India 100 celebrity list with an earnings of 100.72 crores. The Indian skipper sits behind Bollywood stars who have dominated the proceedings over the years as Salman Khan tops the charts with an earnings of 232.83 crore, where as Shah Rukh Khan books the second spot with an earnings of 170.50 crores.
Joining the top five this year is master blaster Sachin Tendulkar with an earnings of 82.50 crore where as the former skipper MS Dhoni is ranked No.8 with an earnings of 63.77 crore. The World Cup-winning captain was in the fifth position last year. The sports personalities have certainly made an impact this year as there are about 21 players from different fields see themselves in the Forbes 100 celebrity list.
Indian ace shuttler PV Sindhu is placed at no.13 with an earnings of 57.25 crore this year. Indian spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja join the club as well as they sit at the 23rd and 24th position in order. Shuttler Saina Nehwal manages to creep in the top 30 with a place at the 29th position with an earnings of 31 crore while batsman Rohit Sharma lands himself in the 30th position with an earnings of 30.82 crore.
Smashing records on fields, hammering the opposition with his aggressive batting has seen the 28-year old top the ICC ODI and T20I rankings. Kohli is on the second spot in the Test behind AB de Villiers, but with India touring South Africa, the two swashbucklers will put their bat to test as the two nations fight for the top spot as South Africa top the charts with India a few points behind.
The net value of Virat Kohli recently doubled when the skipper tied the knot with Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma on December 11 in Italy. With various brand endorsements and business ventures, 'the face that runs the place' Kohli might just soon top the charts as well in time to come.
Kohli who was recently rested by the BCCI as the skipper had been playing continuously since the start of the year, will be back in action when India travel to South Africa in the new year to play three Tests, six ODIs and three T20Is. Rohit led the Men in Blue for the remainder of the Sri Lankan tour where he won his maiden ODI series as captain and will aim to clinch the three-match T20I series as India lead 1-0.
Team India will take on Sri Lanka in the 2nd T20I at Indore as the Men in Blue aim to end the year on a high with a series win.
