King and Raja, ever after!

It happened over two innocuous May weekdays, five days apart. India’s greatest Test captain and India’s latest Test captain, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, announced their retirements from the longest format of cricket. Sharma’s casual IG story and Kohli’s crafty thunderbolt on Monday morning sent fans on emotional spirals. Still, I am pretty sure their respective managers, for brand and wealth, weren’t as worried. This was ‘priced in’, they would say.

Virat and Rohit will only be seen in the IPL, a two-month summer affair, and in ODIs—often the underappreciated format of cricket—whose eyeball-worthy tournament won’t occur before 2027. That’s roughly 30-35 days a year in which you will see the duo in action. Here, I am factoring in at least 14 IPL games, 12 to 15 ODIs and around five domestic outings. ‘How will my MVP client’s brand keep growing?’ is a question their suits have solved long ago.

Rohit’s legacy: A people’s leader

Let's begin with the one with a lower brand valuation and Test batting average. Rohit’s brand valuation is estimated to be over INR 300 crores, and it is not built on runs or records alone. In the latter half of his career, wise suits have been live scripting his story. From the ‘breakaway, talented lad’ of 2007 to the ‘big brother, legend’ of 2025, Rohit’s narrative has evolved, with ICC trophy wins only cementing this legacy and, of course, Sharmaji-ki-biwi (Sharma's wife), Ritika, presumably acting as a sharp guiding light.

By one count, Rohit has 30 endorsement deals from consumer goods and finance to healthtech and apparel, with 12 added just last year. The X-factors here are the major brands such as Adidas, CEAT, and LaLiga that Rohit is connected with. I mean, this collaboration last year put him next to Messi—that is a sign of Rohit’s strong legacy. Of course, it faced some storms after that—loss of IPL captaincy and a poor run in Tests—but his brand valuations would only correct, not collapse. ‘Rohit’s legacy’ continues to evolve every time he steps onto the field.

The stories are fortified by unscripted moments—like when he was overheard telling his junior colleague Sarfaraz Khan, ‘Oye bhai, hero nahin banne ka’ (Hey brother, don’t try to be a hero), or when he shouted ‘Koi garden mein nahin ghumega’ (No one will stroll around as if in a garden) to his teammates during a Test match, or through his many press conference quips that have endeared him to generations across regions.

His nickname ‘Hitman’ may be the most misplaced in cricket history, for here is a guy who is the opposite of threatening, the most accessible, arm-around-shoulder leader, and a true-to-self hero. Unless you are a fast bowler who sends back-of-length deliveries down the middle and leg.

Wait, all that ‘genuine’ side of Rohit needs constant safeguarding, because not all that he says should be made public, and his inner circles—broadcast producers, social managers, etc, are on their toes. Even white-ball GOATs know they won’t be spared from public ire if anything remotely upsetting goes out. Scroll down Sharma’s sanitised feed—it’s all family man, healthy food, and sunshine in between the paid partnerships.

Not to compare apples to oranges, or Cheeku, who I’ll get to next, but Rohit Sharma’s brand valuations may continue to grow at a slower rate than other ‘icons’, as he doesn’t seem to milk his digital game. Here is an example: after the T20 World Cup final win last year, Hardik Pandya, who had made seven IG posts throughout the tournament, took only a few minutes to put them up, while captain Rohit went AWOL from social and only posted this the next day. Classic generation gap behaviour, but I suppose it was the approach their brand managers preferred.

Virat’s superstardom: Built to endure

India’s most valuable celebrity brand today stands upwards of INR 1,000 crores by popular estimates. His IG followers (real wealth, unlike yours and mine, which is like Monopoly money) are third only to Ronaldo and Messi. In practical terms, Kohli reportedly earns over INR 165 crores annually—he could be over INR 15,000 richer by the time you finish reading this article. Virat’s brand portfolio has around the same partnerships as his Test average in England: 33.21. The biggest factor behind Kohli’s brand valuation that is going to keep on rising is his obsessive demeanour of fitness. If you pump iron with incredible consistency, sacrifice chhole-bhature to build a superstar life, and appear impossibly energetic at all times, the brands won’t just queue up, they will be your slaves even if you bunch them all together under your ‘Reels’ section.

Virat’s strategic moves over the past decade (Puma, 2017 to April 2025; MRF, Myntra, Audi) suggest that he isn’t happy with just ‘whale’ brands, but he wants to lend more than his name to partnerships. After reportedly declining Puma’s offer to renew, Kohli has partnered with the homegrown sportswear firm Agilitas as co-creator and investor. This is reminiscent of Federer, who, in 2019, joined a Swiss shoe firm as shareholder but has grown into ‘product development, fan engagement’ and even created his sneaker line. Virat too is in a league that not just endures, it takes his legacy to new highs—even if the retired hero falls off the map.

Managers of Virat’s ‘story’ will have to keep working daily to polish that narrative of a fierce leader, a family man, a guard to his friends and a self-aware athlete who made us feel ‘Why retire now?’ and not ‘Why not now?’

Trophies and stories

The multiple deity worshippers of India need to be constantly fed stories, and the suits that manage Ro-Ko—or even Khans and Bachchans—know it. Sports is life’s finest reality show, but the action outside the field is often scripted. It rides the victories, prices in setbacks and covers up accidental IG likes. The stories now have multiple platforms, and are tailor-made for different audiences, ensuring that Rohit and Virat remain on their pedestal.

However, they would have to keep reinventing to stay on top, for this isn’t an India of a single sporting hero, Sachin Tendulkar. We now have a Neeraj Chopra, a Shubman Gill on the rise, Lakshya Sen, Manu Bhaker... why, even Maaya Rajeshwaran would be on her way. Whether they get silverware for their brands to endure may be beyond their control, but their narratives lie in the hands of their managers.

— Siddharth Raman, chief executive officer, Sportz Interactive (L) and Malay Desai, director – content, Sportz Interactive (R)