ESPN World Fame 100: Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni in top 20; Cristiano Ronaldo tops again
Mumbai: Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni were among the 11 Indian athletes that featured in the list of ESPN World Fame 100 of 2018, which includes the most famous sports stars in the world.
The duo found themselves a place in the top 20 rankings, with the Team India skipper being placed on the 11th spot while Dhoni occupied the 20th place.
Kohli was placed ahead of the likes of Serena Williams (12), Novak Djokovic (13) and Floyd Mayweather (14) while wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni left behind the likes of Maria Sharapova (21), Mesut Ozil (22) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (35).
Seven other Indian cricketers such as Rohit Sharma (30), Suresh Raina (41), Yuvraj Singh (57), Ravichandran Ashwin (71), Harbhajan Singh (80), Gautam Gambhir (83) and Shikhar Dhawan (94) also made the cut. Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal (50) and tennis ace Saina Mirza (100) were the other non-cricket Indian athletes to crack the renowned list of names.
The athletes are allotted a particular ranking based on their social media following, Google Trend score and brand endorsements.
Portuguese and Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo topped the list for the third year running, beating LeBron James and football rival Leo Messi. Neymar, who became the world’s most expensive footballer following his staggering €222 million move to Paris Saint-Germain, clinched the fourth spot.
Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Kevin Durant, Rafael Nadal, Stephen Curry and Phil Mickelson rounded off the top 10 list.
