cricket

Updated: Oct 27, 2017 08:46 IST

Virat Kohli, Indian cricket team captain, has been ranked above the Argentinean and Barcelona football legend Lionel Messi as one of the most valuable brands among sports athletes by Forbes.

According to Forbes, Kohli is ranked seventh in the list released by Forbes ahead of Messi, who is at ninth. Between Kohli and Messi is the Irish golfer Rory McIlroy. Kohli is placed at seventh with a brand value of $14.5 million, compared to Messi’s $13.5 million.

(Read | Virat Kohli impressed with evolution of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah)

Roger Federer tops the list with a brand value of $37.2 million, followed by basketball star LeBron James with $33.4 million and Usain Bolt with $27 million.

Here is the list of top 10 most valuable brands among sports athletes:

Virat Kohli’s brand value is higher than football legend Lionel Messi, golfer Rory McIlroy and Stephen Curry. ( Graphic: Hitesh Mathur )

The 28-year-old Virat Kohli had overtaken former Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni as the most valued celebrity brands released by Duff and Phelps.

Kohli’s career graph has been on a rise with the right-hander surpassing former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting in terms of scoring most centuries in ODI cricket. Kohli achieved the feat during the first ODI against New Zealand, last Sunday in Mumbai.

Kohli took over as India captain across formats in January 2017 and has already guided the team to the top spot in the ICC Test Rankings.