Virat Kohli is the only cricketer and Indian among the top Instagram sports’ highest-paid celebrities influencers, a roster that is topped by Portuguese and Juventus football star Cristiano Ronaldo.

While Kohli, having 22.5 million Instagram followers, can net $120,000 (₹88 lakh) for one sponsored post on the photo-sharing social media platform, Ronaldo earns a whopping $750,000 (₹5.5 crores) for the same. The football icon, at 133 million, has the highest number of followers on Instagram.

Celebrities across the world are known for raking in colossal sums of money through posts on their social media handles on the strength of their massive fan following and their ability to supplement a brand’s global outreach with their stardom. Sports icons and athletes are no exception to this case.

Among the 75 celebrities in the Instagram Rich List 2018 by www.hopperhq.com, an Instagram post scheduling tool, eleven of them are from sports. The list ranks the celebrities based on the sum fetched by their Instagram posts. The ratings are also based on the number of followers, per post engagement and frequency of posts.

The top 10 roster in the sports category of the Instagram rich list is ruled by football stars. After Ronaldo, Brazilian and Paris Saint Germain star striker Neymar Jr sits at the second spot with 101 million followers and $600,000 cost per post. Neymar is followed by Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Gareth Bale, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Luis Suarez.

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Kohli sits at the ninth spot after Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) star Conor McGregor and is followed by NBA player Stephen Curry at the tenth spot. British professional boxer Floyd Mayweather is the only athlete left out of the top 10 Instagram rich list.

Kohli, at 29, earns over $24 million a year of which $20 million is attributed to earnings from brand endorsements and sponsorship deals. One of the leading brand icons in India, Kohli has managed to carve a niche for himself by finding a spot in Top 100 Forbes World’s highest-paid athletes 2018 ranked 83rd. He was also inducted in the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia in 2016.

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