Top level athletes have always been highly decorated in the public domain of this country. We often associate ourselves with these athletes, and are very passionate about their performance in their respective games. The popularity of the athletes is a result of many factors like social media following, medals or trophies earned, brand endorsement deals signed. The most important trend that is being seen since 4-5 years is the substantial rise of brand value of women in sports. This has led to the rise of women’s sports at another level. They are now getting endorsements which is a great way to promote it

Let us have a glance at the most popular Indian Athletes in recent times (2020).

1.Virat Kohli

An ace cricketer and captain of Indian cricket team in all 3 formats , known for his dedication and utmost passion towards his game. In a span of 12 year long international career, he has already broken many records and has specialization in chasing targets. His popularity can be determined by the variety of brands that he endorses, like American Tourister, Audi, Boost, Gillette, MRF, Manyavar, Puma etc. Apart from cricket, he also owns a franchise named FC Goa in Indian Super League (ISL) and is also active on social media.

2. Rohit Sharma

He has been the opening batsman for the Indian cricket team in all 3 formats since 7 years. He is also the vice – captain of Indian team in ODI. His fanbase includes a large number of supporters of IPL team Mumbai Indians as he is the captain of the team. His popularity is well known in the public sphere because of his brand endorsements.

3. MS Dhoni

He is undoubtedly the biggest sensation in modern Indian sports. He had successfully captained the Indian Cricket team for several years. The team won the T-20 World cup(2007), ODI World cup(2011) and Champions Trophy (2017). Dhoni has almost all cricketing trophies under his belt as a captain. 

4. Neeraj Chopra

He is an Indian javelin throw (track and field) athlete. He represented India at the 2018 Asian Games where he won a gold medal, setting the national record of 88.06 m, and at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where he also clinched the gold medal. Athletes like him have become popular among people, especially aspiring athletes, by excelling in javelin throw at a small age of 22. He has been nominated for Arjuna Award 2020

5.Hima Das

Nicknamed as Dhing express, she is a top level Indian sprinter. She holds the current Indian national record in 400 metres (with a timing of 50.79 seconds) that she clocked at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. She has received Arjuna Award 2019. She came to limelight in 2018 when she became the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track event at the IAAF World U20 Championships. Talking about association with brands, she has signed endorsements with Gatorade and Adidas.

6.PV Sindhu

She is the top Indian female shuttler, currently ranked 6th in the world. She has also been ranked world no. 2 in April 2017. She has brought many laurels to the country – Silver in 2016 Olympics, Gold in 2019 World Championship, Gold in 2018 Commonwealth games. She has endorsement deals with JBL, Bridgestone Tyres, sports drink Gatorade, pain reliever ointment Moov, online fashion store Myntra, e-commerce portal Flipkart. Her popularity is due to the fact that many Indian girls were motivated to play badminton taking inspiration from her.

7. Harmanpreet kaur

She is an Indian cricketer, who plays as an all-rounder for the team. She is a recipient of Arjuna Award in 2017. She has been an inspiration to a lot of aspiring women cricketers in India. s

She is the first woman cricketer for India to score a century in a Women’s Twenty20 International match. She also plays in the Big Bash league.

8. Sunil chetri

He is the captain of the Indian football team, and plays as a striker/winger for the team. He has scored the second highest number of goals in international matches among active male players after Cristiano Ronaldo. He is both the most-capped player and all-time top goalscorer for the Indian national team, with 72 goals in 115 matches. He has a strong fanbase which increased drastically when he urged Indians to come see matches so that the level of football in India can increase.

9. Sania Mirza

The best Indian Women’s tennis player, a former world no. 1 in the Women’s doubles category. She has won 6 grand slam titles in her career and has established herself as one of the highest paid and high- profile athletes in the country. She has also done social work and was announced as the UN Women Goodwill ambassador for South Asia. She was also announced as brand ambassador of Telangana in 2014.

10. Geeta Phogat

Known as ‘Dangal girl’ (a film named Dangal was made on her family’s life), she had won India’s first ever gold medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. She is very popular among people as she has done TV shows like Khatron Ke Khiladi. She has been a very huge source of inspiration, as she excelled in a sport like wrestling coming from Haryana.

11. Manpreet singh

He is the captain of Indian National Hockey team since 2017. He has been a part of the team that won Gold at Asian Games 2014 and Gold at Asia cup 2017. He was a recipient of Arjuna Award in 2018 because of the services he delivered for the team.  

The awards and recognition received by these Indian athletes shows the love and support that they get from the country. All their success motivates and inspires young talents to work hard and play with full will for the country.