Kohli and Dhoni feature in the top 20 of World's most famous athletes
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Indian cricketing stars Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have made it into the top-20 most famous athlete's list that was recently released by ESPN. Kohli and Dhoni were placed in 13th and 15th spot respectively while Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina could only manage the 90th and 95th spot on the list.
The list produced by ESPN works on a special calculation formulated by the director of sports analytics Ben Alamar. The formula takes into account social media reach, brand endorsements, and other data to rank the players in order of their popularity worldwide. Â
In February, Virat Kohli grabbed headlines for bagging a 100 crore, eight-year deal with Puma, becoming the first ever Indian athlete to do so. With the deal, the 28-year-old joined the star-studded club of athletes consisting of Olympic legend Usain Bolt, golfer Rickie Flower, and Arsenal legend Thiery Henry.Â
The ESPN Magazine will dedicate an entire issue to the recently announced list and will do features on the athletes that grace the list. Notably, the magazine will feature an article on Yuvraj Singh and the issue is scheduled to hit the USÂ newsstands on June 2. Yuvraj heavily contributed to India's 2011 victorious World Cup campaign and bagged the man of the series award for scoring 362 runs and scalping 15 wickets. The 35-year old later battled a rare form of lung cancer and became an inspiration for millions of fans around the globe when he made a comeback to the Indian side.Â
Real Madrid star striker and Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo was ranked number one in the list followed by Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James. Ronaldo's arch nemesis Lionel Messi grabbed the 3rd spot while the 18-time Grand Slam winner, Roger Federer was placed fourth on the list. Â
The other players in the top ten in order of their rank were: Phil Mickelson, Neymar, Usain Bolt, Kevin Durant, and Rafael Nadal.
