Virat Kohli trumps Rohit Sharma as the most marketable cricketer in 2022

Virat Kohli. (Illustration by Suneesh K.)

Indian batting great Virat Kohli is the most marketable cricketer of 2022, according to London-based SportsPro. Kohli finished seventh in the list, the highest for any cricketer, which has Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo at the very top.

Virat Kohli received a marketability score of 49.24, a Brand Strength score of 14.22/20, an Audience and Reach rating of 24.02/50, and an Brand Economics score of 11.01/30.

Virat Kohli - The most marketable cricketer in the world and No.7 in the world overall in 2022.

Virat Kohli - The face of World Cricket. pic.twitter.com/D7Fqj68Nfo — CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) October 18, 2022

For context, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 91.21 for Marketability, 11.21/20 for Brand Strength, 50/50 for Audience and Reach, and 30/30 for Economics.

The Top-10 in this list are:

1.Cristiano Ronaldo

2.Serena Williams

3.Lewis Hamilton

4.LeBron James

5.Lionel Messi

6.Naomi Osaka

7.Virat Kohli

8.Alex Morgan

9.Sam Kerr

10. Tom Brady

Incidentally, Indian captain, Rohit Sharma is the next most marketable cricketer in 20th place, and the only other cricketer in the top 50.

The other cricketers on the list include Shikhar Dhawan (70), Hardik Pandya (71), Joe Root (72), and Jos Butler (78).

Kohli was in fine form as a fielder, during India's warm-up match against Australia on Monday, as he effected a brilliant run out of Tim David before taking a one-handed stunner to dismiss Pat Cummins at long on.

India next takes on New Zealand in the second warm-up game on Wednesday, October 19, before the tournament opener on Sunday against arch-rivals Pakistan.