Virat Kohli Net Worth 2023 (in Dollars USD and Indian Rupee INR): How Do Cricketers Earn Money?

by Nitesh Mathur | Jun 25, 2023 | Finances & Cricket

What is Virat Kohli’s net worth? Virat Kohli’s total net worth in 2023 is estimated to be between $62-131 Million (Rs. 508-1075 Crore INR).

King Kohli’s net worth frequently sparks curiosity among cricket fans throughout the world.

As one of modern cricket’s greatest icons and being the world’s best batter for the better part of the last decade, it is no surprise that Virat Kohli has become one of the wealthiest athletes on the planet.

Virat Kohli Net Worth Case Study

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Virat Kohli’s net worth as a case study to understand the different ways cricketers can earn money.

This is the fifth piece in our series on analyzing Cricket’s Finances:

• 7 Pathways to Earn Money as a Cricketer
• Top 12 Richest Cricket Boards
• Top 11 Richest Cricket Leagues
• Salary of the Top 12 Cricketing Nations

Virat Kohli Total Net Worth (Both Rupees and Dollars)

The inspiration for this article came from a report from Stock Gro, a social trading platform that was widely circulated on social media. They reported that Virat Kohli’s estimated net worth is about Rs. 1,050 crore (around $122 Million).

Today we break this down into little pieces (and try to fact check their estimates along the way).

The Cover pic of Stock Gro – Virat Kohli, Indian Cricket GOAT. pic.twitter.com/HiCcdKcNmg

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) June 18, 2023

Our Method and Sources on Virat Kohli’s Net Worth ($62-131 Million) Estimate

According to Forbes’s “The World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes 2023” list, soccer star, Cristiano Ronaldo, is at #1 with a whopping $136 Million ($46 Million on-field earnings & $90 Million off-field earnings), while American football legend, Tom Brady, is at #50 with $45.2 Million earnings ($1.2 million on-field & $44 million off-field).

The methodology of Forbes‘ off-field earnings calculation includes licensing, sponsorships, appearance fees, memorabilia, and business cash returns.

In the past, Kohli has been the only cricketer to have made the Forbes list (he has since dropped off and did not make the Top 50 of the Forbes 2023 list). He made the 2020 list as the #66th richest athlete in the world with $26 Million earnings ($2 Million – on field, $24 Million – endorsements). In addition, Virat Kohli made Sportico’s “100 Highest-Paid Athletes in the World 2022” at #61 with $33.9 Million ($2.9 Million salary/winnings & $31 Million endorsements)

Conclusion: Based on these two trusted sources, Virat Kohli’s net worth based on on-field salary and off-field sponsorships cannot be greater than $45 million.

Virat Kohli’s Net Worth Breakdown

So, how can a cricketer earn money? A cricketer can earn money through annual contracts, match fees, IPL & franchise league salaries, post-match award earnings, properties, cars, and brand endorsements (sponsorships, paid tweets & Instagram posts, advertising, etc.)

Let’s get started and analyze each component of Kohli’s net worth.

*Note: We will use the conversion is as of 6/24/2023, where $1 US dollar is equal to Rs. 81.98 INR.

Part 1: Virat Kohli On-Field Earnings ($3.1 Million)

1. Virat Kohli Annual Contract ($854,000)

• Indian National Team A+ Contract: Rs. 7 Crores INR ($853,866.8)

Source: BCCI Press Release – Contract List

2. Virat Kohli Match Fees ($435,000)

• Test: Rs. 15 Lakh INR ($18,297.15)
• ODI: Rs. 6 Lakh INR ($7,318.86)
• T20I: Rs. 3 Lakh INR ($3,659.43)

Between the 2022 T20 World Cup and 2023 ODI World Cup, a three-format player like Virat Kohli had the potential to play 9 Tests, 27 ODIs, and 20 T20Is.

• Test: Rs. 1.35 Crores INR ($164,674.35)
• ODI: Rs. 1.62 Crores INR ($197.609.22)
• T20I: Rs. 60 Lakhs INR ($73,188.6)

Putting it all together, Virat Kohli (or any Indian three-format international player) had the potential to earn a maximum of Rs. 3.57 Crores INR ($435,472.17) from match fees alone.

Here are the list of India’s matches over the past year:

• India tour of Bangladesh (2 Tests)
• Australia in India (4 Tests, 3 ODIs)
• World Test Championship Final (1 Test)
• India in West Indies (2 Tests, 3 ODIs, 5 T20Is)
• India in New Zealand (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)
• India in Bangladesh (3 ODIs)
• Sri Lanka in India (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)
• New Zealand in India (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)
• 2022 T20 World Cup (6 T20Is)
• 2023 ODI World Cup (at least 9 ODIs)

3. Virat Kohli IPL Royal Challengers Bangalore Salary ($1.8 Million)

• IPL 2022 Retention Fee: Rs. 15 Crore ($1,830,000)

Note, Kohli’s retention fee decreased from Rs. 17 Crore in IPL 2020 to Rs. 15 Crore in IPL 2022 retention cycle.

Note: Non-Indian players can participate in other leagues and can earn more from franchise leagues as we discussed here.

4. Virat Kohli Awards ($12,000-$20,000)

Virat Kohli Award Earnings: Rs. 10-16 Lakhs INR ($12,190-$20,000)

In addition to the base salary and match fees, cricketers can earn money via awards earned in the match.

This is most evident in IPL’s post-match ceremonies. Kohli was in top-notch form during IPL 2023 and earned several awards along the way.

Virat Kohli – IPL 2023 Award Earnings Total: Rs. 11 Lakhs ($13,417.91)

• Match 20 Total: Rs. 4 Lakhs ($4,879.24)
  • Rupay On-The-Go 4s: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
  • Upstox Most Valuable Asset: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
  • Dream11 Game Changer of the Match: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
  • Player of the Match: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
• Match 36 Total: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
  • Rupay On-The-Go 4s: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
• Match 43 Total: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
  • Rupay On-The-Go 4s: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
• Match 65 Total: Rs. 4 Lakhs ($4,879.24)
  • Visit Saudi Beyond the Boundaries Longest Six of the Match: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
  • Upstox Most Valuable Asset: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
  • Rupay On-The-Go 4s: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
  • Player of the Match: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
• Match 70 Total: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)
  • Rupay On-The-Go 4s: Rs. 1 Lakh ($1,219.81)

Kohli won an additional 4 player of the match trophies (about $5000) in international cricket in the past year:

• T20 World Cup (India vs Pakistan)
• Two player of match awards vs Sri Lanka in November
• 4th Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Note: Teams and players may earn additional bonuses or prize money based on winning series or major tournaments.

Part 2: Virat Kohli Assets ($17.7 Million)

5. Virat Kohli Properties ($13.9 Million)

• Mumbai: Rs. 34 Crore ($ 4,147,353.01)
• Gurgaon: Rs. 80 Crore ($9,758,477.68)

Total: 114 Crore ($13, 905, 830. 69)

6. Virat Kohli Cars ($3.8 Million)

• Rs. 31 Crore ($3, 781, 410.1)

• Audi R8 V10 Plus, R8 LMX, A2L, Q8, Q7, RS5, S5, Fortuner, Range Rover

Part 3: Virat Kohli Brand Endorsements ($41-110 Million)

Endorsements are where accurate information is a little difficult to find. Some of these estimates may be close, while others may be totally off the charts.

7. Virat Kohli Brand Off-Field Earnings ($16-45 Million)

• Brand Endorsements: Rs. 7.5-10 Crore/Day ($914,801-1,219,735)

Kohli endorses at least 18 brands. If he does one-three days of shoot for each brand, then he earns a minimum of Rs. 135-360 Crores ($16.458-43.9 Million) per year. This is consistent with our guess that Kohli’s off-field earnings are below $45 million.

Brands Endorsed by Kohli: Vivo, Myntra, Great Learning, Noise, Wrogn, Blue Star, Fire Boltt, Too Yumm!, Volini, Luxor, HSBC, Uber, Toothsi, Star Sports, American Tourister, MRF, Tissot, Cinthol

In particular, we know that Virat Kohli has also signed major long-term deals as follows:

• Virat Kohli MRF 8-Year Deal: Rs. 100 Crores INR ($12.196 Million) or Rs. 12.5 Crores INR ($1.5 Million) per year.
• Virat Kohli Puma 8-Year Deal: Rs. 110 Crores INR ($13.409 Million) or Rs. 13.75 Crores INR ($1.68 Million) per year.

8. Paid Social Media Posts ($25-65 Million)

Another way for influencers to endorse brands is via paid tweets or Instagram posts.

Virat Kohli has 253 Million Instagram followers, and 56.5 Million Twitter followers, and I am sure this will rise as the years go.

According to Stock Gro, Virat Kohli charges

• Instagram: Rs. 8.9 Crore/Post ($1,085,630.64/Post)
• Twitter: Rs. 2.5 Crore/Post ($304,952.43/Post)

However, I doubt this estimate.

Since June 2022, Virat Kohli has tweeted about 250 times. This can be divided into about 75 personal tweets and about 175 branded tweets, which amounts to about Rs. 437.5 Crore ($53,305,684.31) from Twitter.

Similarly, Kohli has posted about 240 Instagram posts since June 2022, 107 of which are paid partnerships. This results in a whopping Rs. 952.3 Crore ($116,162,478.65).

If this was true, Virat Kohli could earn over $169,468,162.96 in a year through social media posts alone! This seems slightly overboard.

According to Forbes, the highest earner on Instagram in 2019 was Cristiano Ronaldo with $47.8 Million (when he had 187 Million followers) and Lionel Messi earned about $23.3 Million from paid-Instagram posts. We can take an educated guess that Kohli also earns around $25-65 Million dollars from paid posts.

8. Businesses & Startups

Finally, a cricketer can earn money via investments and businesses.

Although we cannot estimate the exact amount of net worth Kohli derives from business initiatives, it could be another $10-20 million (Rs. 80-160 Crores INR). Since this is just speculation, we will not add it to the total net worth.

Here are the businesses Kohli is affiliated with.

Brands Owned: one8 commune (restaurant & athleisure brand), NUEVA (restaurant), WROGN (clothing), stepathlon (lifestyle), FC GOA, UAE Royals, Bengaluru Yodhas

Brands Funded: RAGE, Blue Tribe, Sport Convo, Universal Sportsbiz, Chisel, MPL, Digit, Hyperice

Final Thoughts – How Do Cricketers Earn Money?

These are not, however, all the ways cricketers can earn money.

For example, Ravichandran Ashwin, has a YouTube channel. In addition, current players like Dinesh Karthik & Stuart Broad participate in commentary stints during their off seasons, which adds to the income. This can add another $25,000-$100,000 to their total salary depending on the number of matches they commentate in.

Frequently Asked Questions – Virat Kohli Net Worth and Salary

Sources: Sportico – Richest Athletes in the World (2022), Virat Kohli Forbes (2020), Forbes – Highest Earners on Instagram (2023)

Also Read:

• Virat Kohli’s Best Innings Across Formats
• Major League Cricket Salary
• What is the Salary of a player in The Hundred (Men’s) in England?

© Copyright @Nitesh Mathur and Broken Cricket Dreams, LLC 2023. Originally published on 06/25/2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Broken Cricket Dreams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content (i.e. linked to the exact post/article).