Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, the lone members of the 100-crore club of Indian cricket players, are all set to find a new mate in Virat Kohli who is closing in on valuing his brand at Rs 100 crore.
Virat Kohli, who is 26, is one of the most popular stars in the nation. A successor to MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli who has taken the world by a storm already has a 36 crore 4-year deal with Adidas and a 6.5 crore deal with MRF. This has made him the top sports man in terms of annual earnings per endorsement. Kohli added a 5 crore 18-month deal with Audi which further increased his brand value.
The proud owner of the cars Lamborghini Gallardo, a Range Rover Vogue, an Audi Q7 and now a limited-edition Audi R8 LMX, Virat Kohli before signing off with Audi was an ambassador of the Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd. He also endorses Pepsi, Nestle, Boost and Oakley on TV.
Indranil Das Blah, chief operating officer at Kwan Entertainment and Marketing Solutions, said that Kohli is a good successor to Sachin and MS Dhoni as he is slowly finding his feet in this world. He is a good alternative to the big names of Sachin and Dhoni and that he is catching up slowly.
Ayaz Menon a cricket expert felt that Kohli who is already the next best thing in Indian Cricket is in his best form of life and said that him given the responsibility of a captain will help his cause and that he will try and break all record even off the field set by the two players who were national icon before him.