Some interesting choices in the list of 30 were Pope Francis, The Dalai Lama (13th), American business magnate Warren Buffet (8th), Queen Elizabeth (17th) and Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie (19th).
Surprisingly, there were just six women on the list of most admired people with Queen highest ranked among them.
Other women to make it to the list were Jolie, US talk show host Oprah Winfrey (20th), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (26th), former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (27th) and Chinese contemporary folk singer Peng Liyuan (28th).
Sportsmen featured highly in the affections of many across the world. After Tendulkar it was Argentina footballer Lionel Messi who was 15th followed by US basketball player Michael Jordon (21) and Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (22).
Pakistani cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan was 12th on the list.
No Briton featured in the world's top ten most-admired people. Stephen Hawking was placed highest, at 16th.
Separate lists of the poll in different countries was also given by YouGov.
In the poll in India, as expected, Tendulkar topped the list but interestingly it was Obama who came in second followed by Modi, Gates and Bachchan.
