New Delhi: Cricket and Bollywood hold a special place in the hearts of millions of people in India. Both enjoy an unparalleled fan following, culture, geography and history. Their relationship has evolved over the years, making them an integral part of India’s cultural fabric.
Bollywood celebrities and cricketers often share the same stage, appearing together in advertisements, reality shows and social events. Many cricketers have married Bollywood actresses like Virat Kohli-Anushka Sharma and Harbhajan Singh-Geeta Basra, which further strengthened the bond between the two fraternities.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) also exemplifies their strong connection, with many Bollywood stars like Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta owning a team in the cash-rich league. Both enjoy huge popularity in the country.
With 4000 responses from 36 Indian cities, Hansa research created a list of the top 10 celebrities, across the cricketing and film fraternity and in the research, cricketers have emerged as more popular figures than movie stars.
Kohli, Dhoni and Tendulkar ranked higher than Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan
Star Indian cricketer Virat Kohli holds the top spot in the list followed by MS Dhoni and then Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli is still an active cricketer and has scored a century in the first Test match against Australia in Perth. MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar taking the second and third position on the list despite maintaining a low profile, speak about their evergreen legacy. Both cricketers retired from international cricket a long time ago but their popularity and fan following is still increasing. Dhoni still plays in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sachin is the mentor of Mumbai Indians (MI).
Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan hold 4,5 and 6 spots respectively. South superstar Allu Arjun is in the seventh position while Salman Khan is in eighth spot followed by Hrithik Roshan at 9. Deepika Padukone is the only actress on the list at number 10.
Cricketers like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Sachin Tendulkar have ranked higher than popular movie stars, including Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, in the latest Brand Endorser Report 2024 by Hansa Research. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
