India skipper Virat Kohli is the only cricketer in the Instagram top-10 sporting ‘Rich List’ for 2019 as he takes the ninth spot worldwide. Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo leads the way with Brazilian superstar Neymar and Argentine talisman Lionel Messi completing the top three.

According toHopperHQ.com (an Instagram scheduling tool), Kohli charges $196,000 (Rs 1,35,66,749 approx) for every post and that makes him one of the highest-paid athlete on the picture-sharing social media portal.

Kohli is one of the most known faces in sports and has 36 million followers on Instagram. He is the number one ranked batsman in both ODIs and Tests and recently helped India reach the World Cup semifinal in England and Wales.

With 173 million followers, five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo takes the number uno spot as he charges a whopping $975,000 (Rs 6,73,49,082 approx) per Instagram post.

Instagram top-10 ‘Rich List’

Cristiano Ronaldo (Football): $975,000

Neymar (Football): $722,000

Lionel Messi (Football): $648,000

David Beckham (Football): $357,000

LeBron James (Basketball): $272,000

Ronaldinho (Football): $256,000

Gareth Bale (Football): $218,000

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Football): $200,000

Virat Kohli (Cricket): $196,000

Luis Suarez (Football): $184,000

Kohli will now be seen in action in India’s upcoming tour of West Indies starting August 3. India are scheduled to play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests in the Caribbean. It was reported that Kohli could give the tour a miss, however, the selectors ended those talks by naming Kohli in all three Indian squads.

It has now been revealed that Kohli himself insisted on going to West Indies as he did not want to stay away from the side at this crucial juncture. India lost to New Zealand in semis to crash out of the World Cup and will be looking for a change in fortunes in West Indies. For this reason, Kohli wanted to be with the team and reportedly declined the option of skipping the tour.

First Published: Jul 24, 2019 12:44 IST