Virat Kohli becomes the first Asian to touch 100M followers on Instagram

Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli might not have produced a century in over a year's time, but has recorded an off-field century. He became the first cricketer and also the first person from Asia-Pacific to have 100 million followers on the social media platform Instagram.

The 32-year-old cricketer is also the fourth most followed sportsperson on Instagram. Portugal football star Cristiano Ronaldo tops the chart with 265 million followers, ahead of Argentina football captain and FC Barcelona legend Lionel Messi and Brazil's Neymar, who are second and third in the list with 186 million and 147 million followers respectively.

"Virat Kohli - the first cricket star to hit 100 million followers on Instagram," the ICC tweeted.

Virat Kohli - the first cricket star to hit 100 million followers on Instagram 🎉 pic.twitter.com/HI1hTSbo8M

— ICC (@ICC) March 1, 2021

The others in 100 million club are Hollywood actor and former WWE superstar Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, American singer-songwriter Beyonce, and Ariana Grande. Kohli, regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world, has 27 centuries in Test matches and 43 tons in ODI cricket. For over two years now, Kohli has been the most followed person on Instagram in India.

This week, Kohli will be on the verge of surpassing former Australia captain Ricky Ponting's record when he steps out to play England in the 4th test at Motera. If Kohli gets a century in the 4th Test, he would be crossing Ponting in the list of captains with most international hundreds. It would be Kohli’s 42nd international ton as captain, the highest by any player in the world.