Team India captain Virat Kohli is the only cricketer to feature in the top-10 list of highest-earning athletes on Instagram during the COVID-19 pandemic-forced lockdown.
The 31-year-old is at No. 6 on a list headed by Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who has earned the most through Instagram posts during the lockdown period between March 12 and May 14 according to data collected by ‘Attain’.
According to the report, Kohli earned a total of £379,294 through his sponsored posts on the social media platform, raking up £126,431 per post.
The Indian talisman has beaten the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Brazilian footballer Dani Alves.
Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Ronaldo earned a whopping £1,882,336 from his posts, earning £470,584 for every one of his four sponsored posts.
Following Ronaldo were Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and PSG’s Neymar at the second and third positions with earnings of £1.2 million and £1.1 million respectively.
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal (£583,628) and former England captain David Beckham (£405,359) wrap up the top-five.
AC Milan’s Ibrahimovic (£184,413), ex-NBA star Dwayne Wade (£143,146), Brazil captain Alves (£133,694), and boxer Anthony Joshua (£121,500) complete the top-10 list of highest-earning athletes.
Kohli is the only batter in the top 10 of ICC rankings for batsmen in all three formats of the game. The Indian skipper, widely regarded as one of the best batsmen of world cricket currently, also averages over 50 across formats.
Kohli would have been leading Royal Challengers Bangalore (IPL) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 had the coronavirus outbreak not postponed the tournament indefinitely.
