Virat Kohli beats Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone; reaches 200 million Instagram followers

Virat Kohli is one of the most fan-popular cricketers in India. He has acquired 200 million followers on Instagram to become the first Indian to do so.

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli remains one of the most fan-popular cricketers in India, despite his struggling form of late. Owing to his record-breaking spree, he has cemented his legacy in the heart of the fans. As a result, he is among the most followed athletes across the globe. On the same note, he has acquired 200 million followers on Instagram, thus becoming the first Indian to do so. He has gone past the likes of famous Indian celebrities from Bollywood, like Shah Rukh Khan (29.7 million), Deepika Padukone (62.7 million) and more. Moreover, he happens to be the third-most followed athlete on the platform after football legends Cristiano Ronaldo (451 million) and Lionel Messi (334 million).

Kohli was blessed to have attained the landmark on Instagram and thanked his fans and followers for their constant support. He sent out a post on the occasion, captioned, "200 mil strong. Thanks for all your support Insta fam." The post also contained a montage of his cricketing moment pictures.

As for Kohli's cricketing commitments, he will next be in action during the tour of England next month, where he will be playing the remaining Test from last year, followed by three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). He has been rested from the upcoming T20Is against South Africa at home following a tiring outing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. He has a below-par IPL 2022 for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), scoring 341 runs in 16 innings at an average of 22.73 and a strike rate of 115.98, including twin half-centuries and a top score of 73.