In the latest Forbes list, Captain Virat Kohli is the only sportsperson from India who made it among the world’s 100 highest paid athletes, topped by Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo. Kohli, 28-year-old, has been ranked 89th in the Forbes 2017 list of ‘The World’s highest paid athletes’ with a total pay of USD 22 million, including USD 3 million from salary and winnings and other USD 19 million from endorsements. Also, the list has Serena Williams as the only female athlete.
Forbes described Kohli as the “Indian cricket phenom”.
“Kohli has continuously shattered batting records and in 2015 was named the captain of the Indian national team, making him one of the youngest players to ever hold the job,” Forbes added.
Last year, Kohli made nearly USD 1 million in salary and match fees from his national team play. Also, the Indian cricket team captain is among the Indian Premier League’s highest-paid players with a salary of USD 2.3 million from the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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Moreover, the second position was secured by American basketball player Lebron James with $86.2 million earnings followed by Argentina football player, Lionel Messi with $80 million, tennis star Roger Federer with $64 million and American basketball player Kevin Durant with $60.6 million.
The list features athletes from 21 countries and 11 sports. Williams stands as the lone female athlete at No. 51 with $27 million. However, Maria Sharapova, who normally makes a position in the list was seen to be disappeared this year from the list due to reductions in her endorsement contracts after a 15-month doping ban. On the other hand, Portugal captain, Ronaldo, topped the list and retained the position of world’s highest-paid athlete for the consecutive second year. Over a year, his earning has reached to $93 million. With the score of 600th career goal, this soccer player was named FIFA’s best player in the world for the fourth time. He even secured an extension in his contract with Real that will pay more than $50 million annually for the next four years straight. The list does not end here. Ronaldo signed a deal with Nike worth of $1 billion.
