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With the advent of social media, the lives of many athletes have completely changed. Today, in the 21st century, social media plays an important role in an athlete's brand-building and reputation. Social media has become a means of communication and interaction between fans and their favourite athletes.
Indian cricketers have a massive fan following on social media. Millions of fans follow their favourite cricketers across social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Many times, the social media posts of a famous athlete can be a source of income for him and a good platform for the promotion of the concerned product and the company. One such example can be of Virat Kohli, who is ranked 14th in the world on the Hopper Instagram Rich List for 2022. He charges $1,088,000 (roughly INR 9 Crore) for every Instagram post.
Now, after understanding the dynamics of social media and its impact, let's have a look at the top 5 Indian cricketers with the most followers on Instagram.
1. Virat Kohli
There is no doubt that his name will pop up as the most followed Indian cricketer on social media. Virat Kohli has a huge fan following and recently reached the 250 million followers milestone on Instagram. Virat Kohli is quite active on social media, especially Instagram. Kohli is seen promoting some or other products, mostly of Puma through his Instagram account. As of today, Virat Kohli has 250 million followers on Instagram.
2. MS Dhoni
After Virat Kohli, the second name on the list is MS Dhoni. The wicket-keeper batsman is hardly seen active on social media these days. Dhoni rarely posts anything on his Instagram account but has a fan following of 42.2 million on Instagram. According to reports back in 2020, MS Dhoni's retirement video, which he posted on August 15, 2020, became the most-watched video on Instagram.
3. Sachin Tendulkar
The God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, too, has a huge fan following through his social media account. Master Blaster is surely active on social media, sharing some old memories of his playing days or glimpses of his personal and family life. Sachin Tendulkar has 40.3 million followers on Instagram.
4. Rohit Sharma
The current India all-format captain has 28.5 million followers on Instagram. Rohit Sharma is often seen promoting brands through his social media accounts. Hitman also actively promotes social causes like the "Rohit4Rhinos" campaign in 2015, in partnership with WWF India and Animal Planet. Through his campaign, Rohit Sharma has increased awareness about rhinos, especially the one-horned rhino.
5. Hardik Pandya
Recently Hardik Pandya won his maiden IPL title as the captain, where he led the newly introduced franchise Gujarat Titans to their maiden trophy in their first outing itself. Hardik Pandya's stature has increased a lot since then. He was even announced as the captain of the Indian team for the Ireland series. Hardik Pandya is another cricketer who is very active on social media, posting photos of his wife and son Agastya. Hardik Pandya recently passed the 20 million follower mark on Instagram. He currently has 25.9 million Instagram followers.