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India captain Virat Kohli has moved back to the top position among batsmen in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings within 10 days of losing it to South Africa batsman AB de Villiers.
In the latest rankings update that takes into account India’s home series against New Zealand which India won 2-1 on Sunday, as well as the last match of the South Africa-Bangladesh series and the last two matches of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka series, Kohli has also reached a career-high in terms of rating points.
The 28-year-old Delhi batsman, who scored 263 runs in the series against New Zealand including knocks of 121 in the first ODI in Mumbai and 113 in the final ODI in Kanpur, has reached 889 points, which is the best ever by an India batsman. The previous highest point tally of 887 was managed by Sachin Tendulkar in 1998 and by Kohli earlier this year.
India opener Rohit Sharma’s 174 runs in the series against New Zealand, which included a fine 147 in the final match, has seen him reach a career-high rating of 799 points, even though he remains in seventh position. Similarly, Pakistan’s Babar Azam (fourth position) and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock (fifth position) have also attained their highest in terms of rating points.
South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis (up two places to 8th), former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (up one place to 11th), New Zealand batsman Tom Latham (up 15 places to a career-best 23rd), Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed (up three places to 37th) and Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Thirimanne (up six places to 47th) are among the batsmen to move up in the rankings.
The list for bowlers continues to be led by Pakistan pace bowler Hasan Ali while India pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah has reached a career-best third position after finishing with six wickets in the series against New Zealand.
Other bowlers to move northwards include left-arm spinners Mitchell Santner of New Zealand (up two places to 14th) and Pakistan’s Imad Wasim (up 14 places to 27th). Adam Milne has also made significant movement, gaining 11 slots to reach 42nd position.
ESPNCricinfo: It has got nothing to do with the celebrity football match he recently played or the football team he owns, but Virat Kohli is now a more valuable brand than Argentina and FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo is the only footballer ahead of Kohli, who is No. 7 on the Forbes list of most valuable brands among sportspersons.
Forbes calculates the brand value of an athlete by subtracting the average income of the top 10 athletes in the same sport from the total earnings of that athlete, excluding salary and bonus from their sport and all investment income. Forbes calculates Kohli’s brand value at US $14.5 million, a million dollars more than the No. 9 Messi, and $22.7m short of the biggest brand among athletes in sport, Roger Federer. In other words, Kohli’s endorsements earn him $14.5m more than the average endorsement income of the top 10 cricketers. Despite a major dip in their brand value over the last year, golfers Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were in the top six.
Kohli, however, is neither the first Indian nor the first cricketer in the top 10 of the Forbes list. MS Dhoni, Kohli’s predecessor as India captain, was the fifth-most valuable sports brand among athletes in 2014, with his brand value calculated at $20m, a million lower than it had been in 2013.
Forbes list of 10 most valuable athletes in 2017
1. Roger Federer: $37.2m
2. LeBron James: $33.4m
3. Usain Bolt: $27m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo: $21.5m
5. Phil Mickelson: $19.6m
6. Tiger Woods: $16.6m
7. Virat Kohli: $14.5m
8. Rory McIlroy: $13.6m
9. Lionel Messi: $13.5m
10. Steph Curry: $13.4m
