Is it a rocket or Superman? No, it's Brand Virat Kohli taking off

Is it a rocket or Superman? No, it's Virat Kohli's brand value taking off

Virat Kohli stretching for the stars? Pic/AFP

Team India skipper Virat Kohli has been in subliminal form. He has scored four double tons in four consecutive Test series and broken several other records in recent times.

He is currently number 2 in the ICC Test rankings with 895 points just behind Australian captain Steve Smith.

He is also no. 2 in another list too.

According to a report published by 'Duff & Phelps' in October 2016, Kohli has moved up from the fourth position to be ranked number 2 in the list of Indian celebrities with the highest brand value and is now behind only Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Virat Kohli has hit four double tons in four consecutive seres

According to the report, the 28-year-old cricketer's brand value is likely to have gone up by 20-25 per cent when he was appointed captain of India's One Day International and Twenty20 teams and it is likely to increase even more, especially if his ongoing purple patch continues, The Hindustan Times quoted sports marketing executives as suggesting.

Kohli's current brand value is pegged at USD 92 million, second only to Shah Rukh's at USD 131 million, according to an October 2016 report on India's most valued celebrity brands published by Duff & Phelps, a global valuation and corporate finance advisory firm.

Numero Uno, but for how long?

Of course, since the report was based on 2016 figures, Kohli' value may have gone up by now.

Kohli has now scored double centuries in four consecutive series and in 2016-17 season, scored the most Test runs by an Indian in a home test season (1206) with four matches still to go.

Kohli recently set an endorsement record by signing a Rs 100-crore deal with Puma, becoming the first Indian sportsperson to bag such a huge deal with one brand.

Virat Kohli

"The track record of a sports player has a direct bearing on his attractiveness as a brand endorser. Given the consistent and unbeatable record of Virat Kohli, companies that want to position themselves as a market winner will definitely look to sign him on as a brand ambassador," the website quoted Aviral Jain, director at Duff & Phelps, as saying.

Interestingly, Kohli, who replaced MS Dhoni as captain of the Indian limited-overs team recently, overtook the World Cup-winning skipper to become the top-ranked Indian cricketer in the list.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (R) and captain Virat Kohli

Dhoni, who was previously ranked 3 in the list, moved down the ladder to be ranked no 9 with a brand value of USD 31.1 million, the report added.