Virat Kohli, former captain of Team India, has ended his run of five consecutive years as the country’s most valuable celebrity. Kohli’s batting form slumped after 2019, and he went on a 1000-day streak without scoring an international century. His return to form came after he scored a hundred during the Asia Cup T20I match in UAE in 2022. Despite his recent successes, his brand value has suffered due to the extended dry spell.
According to the Kroll Celebrity Brand Valuation Report for 2022, Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh has become India’s most valuable celebrity, with an increased brand value of $181.7 million from 2021’s $158.3 million. On the other hand, Virat Kohli saw a decline in his brand value from $185.7 million in 2021 to $176.9 million in 2022. Aviral Jain, Managing Director of Valuation Advisory Services at Kroll, commented:
“Virat Kohli has seen a 5 percent decline in brand value from 2021. His performance on the field has been erratic, and he has been in and out of India team which is a risk associated with his brand. Also, the fees which he used to command has softened a bit in 2022. While he has been able to continue to grow his brand portfolio, there is drop in brand value.”
He further added: “While his brand is reaching a maturity phase in terms of a cricketer, in some of his endorsements he is positioning himself as a non-cricketer and some of his brands are with (wife) Anushka (Sharma). Plus, together they are doing many investments like in BlueTribe basically highlighting more non-cricket aspects.
“In the coming years, he (Kohli) will come back stronger as his non-cricketing positioning would have strengthened quite a bit which has been the case for MS Dhoni.”
Virat Kohli was the top-scorer for India in the Test against Australia
Virat Kohli was the top scorer for Team India in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series against Australia. In six innings, he scored 297 runs with a batting average of 49.50. He also achieved his first Test century since November 2019, batting patiently for 364 balls and ending with 186 runs on the scoreboard at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
