India’s captain Virat Kohli, who recently signed a Rs 110 crore deal with Puma, has become the most popular choice for brand endorsements in India. Cricket is a religion in India and Virat Kohli is the poster boy of Indian cricket. In the last 3 years, Kohli has taken his game to another level and established himself as the most important member of Indian cricket team. Recently, he took over as India’s captain in limited-overs cricket from MS Dhoni and he now leads Team India in all three formats of the game.
In terms of popularity, Virat Kohli is also the number 1 celebrity in India. According a report published on Zeenews.india.com, Virat Kohli has surpassed Shah Rukh Khan and other celebrities in India, in terms of fees charged by celebrities.
Virat Kohli charges Rs 5 crores per day fee is highest charged by any celebrity in the country, surpassing the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and even MS Dhoni, who used to charge between Rs. 3-3.5 crore during his peak brand value. In doing so, the the 28-year-old Delhi lad has probably put himself close to the recognition and brand value like that of international sports stars including Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Roger Federer.
Speaking about Kohli’s renewal with PepsiCo, Cornerstone Sport, his sports management firm’s spokesperson was quoted saying by Economic Times, “Virat is contracted with Pepsi until April 30. We are currently negotiating a contract extension with the Pepsi-Co team,” Cornerstone Sport CEO Bunty Sajdeh said. “Pepsi has been one of our longest and most fruitful associations until now and hopefully we will collaborate with them for years to come.”
“We look forward to continuing our long and meaningful association with him,” the spokesperson of PepsiCo confirmed.
