T20 World Cup 2024: Virat Kohli lifted and placed on the same podium as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi by former rival

Former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor feels that Virat Kohli's popularity on social media is just as big as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's.

Virat Kohli, who recently won the Orange Cap for scoring the most runs in IPL's 2024 season, is the most followed cricketer on the planet. His popularity is simply out of this world and many believe that he is among those exclusive people who are considered as global sporting icons.

The former India captain has inspired and will keep on inspiring the upcoming generations to take cricket seriously. Virat Kohli had said himself that his name gets used quite a lot for the game to grow even more. Now with the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 heading over to the USA, crowds are expected to turn up and see Kohli, who will miss India's only warm-up game against Bangladesh.

What did Ross Taylor say about Virat Kohli's comparison with Messi-Ronaldo?

While speaking in a podcast named "180 Not-Out" Ross Taylor heaped a lot of praise on his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate Virat Kohli. Taylor, who retired from all formats of cricket back in April 2022, was basically asked about the role of social media in helping the game of cricket and cricketers grow in terms of popularity.

To that, Ross Taylor highlighted how cricketers are being used for the promotion of various brands for an unbelievable amount of money. The Kiwi stated that no one had imagined that to happen when the Indian Premier League had begun in 2008. Taylor then spoke about Kohl's impact on the world of cricket and his popularity across social media platforms.

Ross Taylor admitted that Virat Kohli is not only restricted to being a famous personality in the Cricket world. That he is a global superstar as well and in terms of social media popularity, he is at the top with Argentina World Cup winner Lionel Messi and 5-time Ballon D'or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Players are putting outposts endorsing products and things like that. Who would have thought of that in 2008? Someone like Kohli, who is a superstar in the world of cricket, but is also a global superstar in the world of sports. In terms of Instagram and social media, he’s up there with Ronaldo and Messi!” - Ross Taylor said via 180 Not Out podcast.

Cristiano Ronaldo stands as the most-followed athlete on Instagram with 630 Million followers. Lionel Messi is the second most followed Footballer on the social media platform with 530 Million and Virat Kohlis the 3rd most followed sportsperson with 269 Million.

Virat Kohli's following is much more higher than that of Basketball legend LeBron James, and F1 drivers Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen among others.

What next for Virat Kohli after IPL 2024?

Virat Kohli is currently on a short break after an individually successful IPL 2024 campaign. After the break, Kohli is set to join the Indian team at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies before the opening group match against Ireland.