Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni were among eight Indian cricketers who found a place in this year's ESPN World Fame 100 list. Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is at the top spot, followed by former Basketball player Lebron James and FC Barcelona captain Lionel Messi. Kohli stands on the seventh position and is the only Indian athlete in the top 10 club, whereas Dhoni is placed on the 13th position.
Interestingly, all Indian men mentioned in this list were from the cricketing fraternity, including Yuvraj Singh (18), Suresh Raina (22), R Ashwin (42), Rohit Sharma (46), Harbhajan Singh (74) and Shikhar Dhawan (94). This list was prepared by looking at three aspects, namely- search score, endorsements and social following. No athlete was able to sway the top three contenders, Ronaldo, Lebron James and Messi, as their rank has not changed from the previous year rankings. However, this time Kohli made into the top 10 as he jumped from the last year’s 11th position to 7th position.
There were only three women in the list- Serena Williams (17), Maria Sharapova (37) and Sania Mirza (93); making Sania Mirza the only Indian woman athlete to feature in the list. Top 10 athletes: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lebron James, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Conor McGregor, Roger Federer, Virat Kohli, Rafael Nadal, Stephen Curry and Tiger Woods.
