So I saw this article about Virat Kohli’s net worth the other day and thought, “Man, how do these cricketers make so much money?” Decided to dig into it myself since everyone keeps talking about his endorsement deals.
Starting the Research
First thing, I googled “Virat Kohli income sources 2022” while eating breakfast. Pulled up 5-6 websites – some sports news, some business sites. Immediately noticed everyone kept repeating “US$122 million net worth” but nobody explained properly how he got there. Typical clickbait stuff.
Breaking Down the Income Puzzle
Started making two lists in my notebook:
- Left side: Cricket earnings (BCCI salary + IPL money)
- Right side: Brand deals
Did the math:IPL contract = 15 crore,BCCI salary = 7 crore –
that’s like 22 crore total from cricket. But his total income? Way higher!The gap was insane – around 30-40 crore missing.
That’s when I realized: endorsements are doing the heavy lifting.
The Real Money Game
Made another list of all brands he reps:
- Puma shoes (saw 3 ads while scrolling Instagram)
- MRF bats (every cricket highlight)
- Tissot watches (that airport billboard near my place)
- Audi cars (remember that commercial?)
- Plus 20+ others like Boost, Uber…
Did rough calculations: each big deal pays 5-10 crore yearly. Small ones still 1-2 crore. With 20+ brands? Cha-ching! Suddenly that missing 40 crore made total sense.
The Big Revelation
Ended up with three big takeaways:
- His bat earns maybe 20% of income
- His face earns the other 80%
- Brands pay him more yearly than IPL franchises
Crazy right? Made me realize why sports stars now care more about their social media followers than batting averages. Your market value ain’t in your skills – it’s in how many eyeballs you grab.
Wasted whole morning on this but super eye-opening. Next time someone mentions Kohli’s net worth, I can actually explain where those zeros come from!
