Superstar India batsman Virat Kohli finds himself in the rarified company of two of the greatest footballers ever in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
In a recent report by “HypeAuditor”, Virat Kohli was named among the Top 3 most-influential sportspersons in the world, preceded by football superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) tops the list with the most followers on Instagram - 584 million. The former Real Madrid striker is considered one of the greatest strikers in footballing history. He currently plies his trade in the Saudi Pro League, playing for Al-Nassr.
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Ronaldo is followed by his arch-rival, Lionel Messi, in the list of most-influential sportspersons. Messi has 463 million followers on his Instagram Account (@leomessi). Messi made the headlines at the end of 2022 after winning the World Cup at the Qatar World Cup 2022. He currently plays for Paris Saint Germain (PSG) in Ligue 1.
Top 3 most influential people in the world on Instagram. [Hype Auditor]
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 22, 2023
1) Ronaldo
2) Messi
3) Kohli pic.twitter.com/0q6uhcTScp
The only non-footballer sportsman on the list is India's very own Virat Kohli. The former India skipper has 249 million followers on Instagram. He is the most-followed cricketer on Instagram by a long mile. The next cricketer on the list is Rohit Sharma, with 28 million followers.
Kohli is fresh off a heartbreaking IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) where they were eliminated from the tournament in agonising fashion despite the star batsman scoring back-to-back centuries in the last two matches.
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How many runs did Virat Kohli score in IPL 2023?
Although the end was not what was targeted, Virat ended the group stages as the third-highest run-getter. In 14 matches, the RCB superstar bagged 639 runs, including two centuries.
After a memorable IPL season, Virat will have his eyes set on the mighty clash against Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final. A one-off test match will take place at the Oval in England from 7 June to 11 June.
