Virat Kohli, often referred to as ‘King Kohli’, is one the greatest cricketers of the modern era. Kohli, who is currently leading India’s charge for a World Cup title at home, celebrates his birthday on November 5.
One of the most-loved sportspersons on the planet, Kohli has over 260 million followers on Instagram. For context, basketball great LeBron James has 158 million followers.
Kohli has scored over 13,500 runs in One-day international (ODI) matches and more than 8,600 runs in Tests so far. Kohli, with his 48 ODI hundreds, is on the cusp of emulating his idol Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record of 49 centuries.
According to reports, the cricketer is among the world’s 100 richest sportspersons with a whopping net worth of over ₹1,000 crore. His major earnings come from cricket, social media endorsements, brand collaborations and businesses.
Kohli is paid ₹ 7 crore per annum as a player under the category “A+”, as per the BCCI contract. He earns ₹15 lakh for each Test appearance, Rs 6 lakh for every ODI and ₹ 3 lakh for playing one T20 match as match fees. Moreover, he receives ₹15 crore per annum for being a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL team.
Virat Kohli has also invested in multiple business ventures and owns a restaurant in Delhi. He has invested in different start-ups like Blue Tribe, Universal Sportsbiz, MPL, Sports Convo, and others. He is associated with many leading brands and reportedly charges between ₹ 7.50 to ₹ 10 crore for every brand endorsement.
Moreover, Kohli reportedly gets nearly ₹11.5 crore and ₹ 2.5 crore per post on Instagram and Twitter, respectively. While his earnings from cricket and social media are cherishable, he has other worthy assets as well. He owns residential properties worth nearly ₹ s 80 crore in Gurugram and ₹ 34 crore in Mumbai.
Apart from cricket, Kohli has business interests in other sports ventures. He is also a shareholder in the Indian Super League club FC Goa, a tennis club, and a pro-wrestling team.
Interestingly, over the 15-year history of the IPL, Kohli has never featured in any of the IPL auctions. RCB signed him for only ₹ 12 lakh during the first edition of the tournament in 2008. He took home a salary of ₹2.4 crore for three consecutive seasons until 2011 when he became the only player retained by the franchise. Between 2011 and 2014, he received ₹ 8.2 crore every year. Significantly, in 2013, he was appointed as the team’s full-time captain.
In the period between 2015 and 2017, Kohli earned a total amount of ₹ 12.5 crore. The franchise retained him for ₹15 crore before the mega auction in 2022 and he is getting the same salary for the 2023 season.
First Published: Nov 4, 2023 3:17 PM IST
