Virat Kohli becomes 1st Indian with 200 million followers on Instagram, becomes 3rd most followed sports star after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

Virat Kohli is only behind Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo and Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Argentina star Lionel Messi in the list of active athletes with over 200 million followers on Instagram.

Former India and RCB captain Virat Kohli. (Source: Twitter)

Former India captain Virat Kohli achieved another massive landmark, this time on social media platform Instagram. The former Royal Challengers Bangalore captain completed 200 million followers on Instagram – the first Indian to achieve this feat on the social media platform.

After this rare achievement on the photo and video sharing platform, Kohli shared a special post on Instagram as well. Expressing gratitude after unlocking the special feat, a grateful Kohli thanked his fans and followers for their unconditional support. “200 mil strong Thanks for all your support insta fam,” Kohli wrote in his latest post.

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A post shared by Virat Kohli (@virat.kohli)

One of the most followed athletes on social media, former Indian captain Kohli has over 49 million followers on Facebook. The former RCB captain has over 48 million followers on Twitter. Earlier last year, Kohli had scripted history by becoming the first Asian celebrity to achieve 150 million followers on Instagram.

Before completing the 200 million followers mark on Instagram, Kohli had surpassed Brazil superstar Neymar by becoming the third-most followed active athlete on the Facebook-owned platform.

Kohli is only behind Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo and Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Argentina star Lionel Messi in the list of active athletes with over 200 million followers on Instagram.

Here are most followed sportspersons on Instagram…

Cristiano Ronaldo – 451 million

Lionel Messi – 334 million

Virat Kohli – 200 million

Meanwhile, India head coach Rahul Dravid said that it would be unfair to expect every player to be available all the time for every series featuring the side. Dravid’s comments come after regular captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah were rested from the upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa, starting from Thursday (June 9).

“It’s not difficult at all. (KL) Rahul has captained before. We are clear on a lot of things. Rohit (Sharma) is our all format player. It would be unrealistic to expect everyone to be available all the time. There are times where we’ve to rest our big players,” said Dravid in a press conference ahead of India’s second practice session on Tuesday.

“We need to ensure that they are fit for all the big tournaments and are peaking then. We also have the Test match in the UK spilling from last year and we need to ensure we have the best side. With the kind of busy schedule we have there are times we need to rest our big players. It gives youngsters opportunities and increase the depth of our squad,” added Dravid.

(with IANS inputs)