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Imran Khan vs Virat Kohli? Who would have been the biggest global super star if they played in the same era today in their prime?

Cover Drive Six said:
Since this discussion is about global popularity and includes mentions of footballers, I am sharing some popular football players who follow Virat Kohli. :dhoni


Paul Pogba, the French footballer and World Cup winner who has played for top clubs like Manchester United and Juventus, extended heartfelt birthday wishes to Indian cricket icon Virat Kohli.

“Virat, happy birthday my boy. He’s a legend, he is literally the best cricket player in the entire world.”

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...-stream-video-goes-viral-101730861986312.html

Former Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) wished Kohli on his birthday.

Germany and Bayern Munich footballer Thomas Muller dons Virat Kohli's jersey, wishes


The former Brazilian captain Chelsea's star defender David Luiz special wishes to Kohli

England Captain Hary Kane:

_107232535_kane.jpg.webp


David Beckham

1730879088982_David-Beckham-and-Virat-Kohli.jpeg
Click to expand...
Whether anyone likes it or not he is the true global icon beyond cricket. His brand value is around 250 million usd.
 
Cover Drive Six said:
Is there any proof of this? Or at least some authentic surveys or articles?
Vis was more popular than any other cricketer during those days. I don’t think Imran was popular outside of Pakistan.
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Too many to list. You can tell how influential he was during his fundraising activities for the cancer hospital. Who’s who of Hollywood and Bollywood filled every event.

“
He palled around with Sting, Mick Jagger and Goldie Hawn. Princess Di paid Khan a visit in Pakistan in 1997 – and even enlisted him in an effort to try to talk on-again, off-again boyfriend Hasnat Ahmad Khan (no relation to the pol) into marrying her before her sudden death in a Paris car crash.

By then, Khan himself was married to British heiress Jemima Goldsmith, a London filmmaker, socialite and gossip-column regular. They had two children together, but divorced in 2004 after nine years of marriage.”

Meet Pakistan’s playboy-turned-prime minister

Cricket-star-turned-politician Imran Khan, the former playboy who counted Princess Diana as a close friend, is poised to become Pakistan’s next prime minister. “We’re going to run the country like …
nypost.com
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Opposite of what you say. Your own cricketers are running after him like fanboys lol your past cricketers also worship kohli.
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You can believe what you want. But no one outside Ind and a few cricket fans in the commonwealth countries have any idea who is.
 
chinaman00 said:
Too many to list. You can tell how influential he was during his fundraising activities for the cancer hospital. Who’s who of Hollywood and Bollywood filled every event.

“
He palled around with Sting, Mick Jagger and Goldie Hawn. Princess Di paid Khan a visit in Pakistan in 1997 – and even enlisted him in an effort to try to talk on-again, off-again boyfriend Hasnat Ahmad Khan (no relation to the pol) into marrying her before her sudden death in a Paris car crash.

By then, Khan himself was married to British heiress Jemima Goldsmith, a London filmmaker, socialite and gossip-column regular. They had two children together, but divorced in 2004 after nine years of marriage.”

Meet Pakistan’s playboy-turned-prime minister

Cricket-star-turned-politician Imran Khan, the former playboy who counted Princess Diana as a close friend, is poised to become Pakistan’s next prime minister. “We’re going to run the country like …
nypost.com
Click to expand...
None of them are sports related. Socializing with celebrities won't make him global star. Heck shubman Gill actually played cricket with Ed Sheeran. Won't make him a global superstar. Purely as a sports person he was a superstar only in Pakistan.
 
charlie007 said:
You might want to rethink that. Kohli is as popular as any cricketer could be. Cricket is being included in the Los Angeles Olympics primarily using Kohli and his global fan following (that is more than Lebron James btw) as a marketing tool.
I understand your urge to promote Imran’s image - and it’s well earned, he was a superstar too - but don’t incorrectly bring someone else down to advance your point.
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No one outside Ind and the cricket fans has any idea who he is. IK was and is the biggest ever name in cricket. His marriage in the eealy 90s was front page news around the World.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
None of them are sports related. Socializing with celebrities won't make him global star. Heck shubman Gill actually played cricket with Ed Sheeran. Won't make him a global superstar. Purely as a sports person he was a superstar only in Pakistan.
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You are desperate but Kohli isn't anything but an Ind icon. No one outside has any idea. If you showed random people outside Ind and cricket playing countries that have cricket fans, they probably confuse him with some guy from slum dog millionaire. It's only in your heads that he is a global brand. Kaptaan doesn't need branding. He is a brand
 
Bewal Express said:
No one outside Ind and the cricket fans has any idea who he is. IK was and is the biggest ever name in cricket. His marriage in the eealy 90s was front page news around the World.
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If you choose to live in your bubble that’s your prerogative. Outside of cricket, and especially to people not affiliated with Pakistanis,
 
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charlie007 said:
If you choose to live in your bubble that’s your prerogative. Outside of cricket, and especially to people not affiliated with Pakistanis, he’s a politician in jail for corruption.
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It's not a bubble. I have mixed with more people than you will have known in your entire life. Kohli or any other Ind isn't known at all Ind and the few people that follow cricket in the white common wealth countries. IK was and is the best known cricketer that cricket has ever produced
 
Bewal Express said:
It's not a bubble. I have mixed with more people than you will have known in your entire life. Kohli or any other Ind isn't known at all Ind and the few people that follow cricket in the white common wealth countries. IK was and is the best known cricketer that cricket has ever produced
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Stop assuming things and get out of that rock you live under.
The cricketer Imran and the politician Imran are two different personalities and you’re trying to mix them. And you are arguing on your opinion and heart rather than cold facts.
You are fully entitled to your opinion but don’t assume others will agree with you.
It’s very difficult to argue with people who debate on opinion instead of facts.
 
As a Cricketer Imran, and as a poster boy may be VK because he is a much better actor.
 
charlie007 said:
Stop assuming things and get out of that rock you live under.
The cricketer Imran and the politician Imran are two different personalities and you’re trying to mix them. And you are arguing on your opinion and heart rather than cold facts.
You are fully entitled to your opinion but don’t assume others will agree with you.
It’s very difficult to argue with people who debate on opinion instead of facts.
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IK Just the cricketer was a much bigger brand than Kohli will ever be. Kohli is an Ind brand and not even thr biggest one- Tendulkar was bigger
 
Bewal Express said:
You can believe what you want. But no one outside Ind and a few cricket fans in the commonwealth countries have any idea who is.
Click to expand...
Like Imran is known for everyone lol Only now they know who Imran is because of politics not when he was a cricketer.
 
Bewal Express said:
IK Just the cricketer was a much bigger brand than Kohli will ever be. Kohli is an Ind brand and not even thr biggest one- Tendulkar was bigger
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I know you are a die hard IK fan. But you have to admit VK is more popular in Pakistan than IK ever was in India. Nothing against Pak players as i said. Akram's popularity is significantly more htan IK's popularity in India.
 
I feel like a fool to have commented on this hypothetical bait thread 🤣. This was just an attempt to create traffic and I fell for it. My bad!
 
Bewal Express said:
You are desperate but Kohli isn't anything but an Ind icon. No one outside has any idea. If you showed random people outside Ind and cricket playing countries that have cricket fans, they probably confuse him with some guy from slum dog millionaire. It's only in your heads that he is a global brand. Kaptaan doesn't need branding. He is a brand
Click to expand...
I am not even a great Kohli fan lol But it is a fact Kohli is a global superstar. The way you guys celebrated his 100 against your own team is something you will never see in India. All your cricketers worship him more than a lot of Indian fan.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
I know you are a die hard IK fan. But you have to admit VK is more popular in Pakistan than IK ever was in India. Nothing against Pak players as i said. Akram's popularity is significantly more htan IK's popularity in India.
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No chance. IK was a bigger in Ind in the 80s than any Ind cricketer. Ask anyone Ind from that era. Literally every Ind actress was linked to him. Kohli is a brand in Ind, Kaptaan is a world wide brand. That won't change Because no Ind will ever be a World wide brand. Sorry to burst your little bubble
 
You cant compare today's era celebs with past, this is information age, nowadays even people who would get called "mirasi", are super popular.
 
Bewal Express said:
No chance. IK was a bigger in Ind in the 80s than any Ind cricketer. Ask anyone Ind from that era. Literally every Ind actress was linked to him. Kohli is a brand in Ind, Kaptaan is a world wide brand. That won't change Because no Ind will ever be a World wide brand. Sorry to burst your little bubble
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Nice imagination dude. He was a play boy. Heck even Asad Rauf was a play boy. That won't make him a global superstar. I have no problem admitting if a pakistani is popular. Imran khan was despised by a lot of people for his arrogant remarks. Especially Sachin fans hated him big time.
 
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Bewal Express said:
No chance. IK was a bigger in Ind in the 80s than any Ind cricketer. Ask anyone Ind from that era. Literally every Ind actress was linked to him. Kohli is a brand in Ind, Kaptaan is a world wide brand. That won't change Because no Ind will ever be a World wide brand. Sorry to burst your little bubble
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I doubt any cricketer can be a world worldwide brand, cricket is simply not that big of a sport, and only with the rise of South Asian economies cricketers can be compared to global stars.
 
amax said:
I doubt any cricketer can be a world worldwide brand, cricket is simply not that big of a sport, and only with the rise of South Asian economies cricketers can be compared to global stars.
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He was (as much as they can be) in the 80s and 90s. Kohli is an Ind brand and that's it.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Nice imagination dude. He was a play boy. Heck even Asad Rauf was a play boy. That won't make him a global superstar. I have no problem admitting if a pakistani is popular. Imran khan was despised by a lot of people for his arrogant remarks. Especially Sachin fans hated him big time.
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Who cares if Sachin fans hated him. He was the biggest cricket brand in Ind in the 80s and 90s. Just plain fact, bigger the Kepil or any other cricketer. Kohli is a brand in Ind and that's it. I am not sure how this is being debated. You guys need to get out more.
 
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Bewal Express said:
Who cares if Sachin fans hated him. He was the biggest cricket brand in Ind in the 80s and 90s. Just plain fact, bigger the Kepil or any other cricketer. Kohli is a brand in Ind and that's it. I am not sure how this is being debated. You guys need to get out more.
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lol You keep saying the same hoping it will become true. See you can't even convince us here. I have no problem admitting AKram is a superstar in India.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
lol You keep saying the same hoping it will become true. See you can't even convince us here. I have no problem admitting AKram is a superstar in India.
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I don't hope anything. It makes no difference either way. I was just putting your delusions to rest.
 
Virat kohli bashes this mediocre Pakistan side which is currently below afghanistan and bangladesh and suddenly comparison starts 😂
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Whatever helps you sleep. I am no Kohli fanboy like you are Imran's fanboy. So i couldn't care less.
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I am a fan of IK as cricketer and as a politician. But as we know, I am not the only one. He is the biggest cricket brand ever produced. Kohli isn't even Tendulkars level
 
Majority on this thread are either jingoistic Indians who are high on saffron or people born in the early 2000s. No need to have any discussion on this issue with them. There’s not a single cricketer who has Imran Khan’s global appeal and popularity. Not Tendulkar, not Ian Botham, not Martin Crowe.

Thread should be closed for its preposterous premise.
 
Bewal Express said:
I am a fan of IK as cricketer and as a politician. But as we know, I am not the only one. He is the biggest cricket brand ever produced. Kohli isn't even Tendulkars level
Click to expand...
At last, some reality check. ...esp the bit about Tendulkar
 
Imran Khan is a no name outside Pakistan.

Pakistan as a country is finished so they like to cope by imagining some imagined past.

Imran Khan has been in jail for a few years now and no one from the cricketing community or his "celebrity" friends have said a word.

According to delusional Pakistanis, shouldn't he be getting the Nelson Mandela treatment from the globe?

On the other hand, the cricketing fraternity is happily playing a tournament there under the regime that put him behind bars.
 
Savak said:
Would Kohli have been as popular if not more than Imran Khan in England, Australia, America if he and Imran Khan both were playing in the same era?

Would Imran Khan have ended up being as commercially successful as Kohli is today?

Would Kohli have barged into IK on the field or fist pumped in his face, screamed like a monkey after he got out?
Click to expand...

Imran benefited from a pre-social media Era when the narrative was controlled by the elite few. If he were to be playing today alongside Kohli he would be just another great Cricketer like soo many others. Some good examples are ABD or Chris Gayle or Warner or Smith or Root or Williamson or ..... all great players but no match to Kohli's stature or accomplishments. His only competition in regards to popularity is with other Mega Indian legends like MSD, Tendulkar.​

And then there is the small matter of being Social media savvy. Imran is a complete failure on that count as can be seen by his disasterous tenure as PM.
 
saimayubera said:
Imran Khan has been in jail for a few years now and no one from the cricketing community or his "celebrity" friends have said a word.

According to delusional Pakistanis, shouldn't he be getting the Nelson Mandela treatment from the globe?

On the other hand, the cricketing fraternity is happily playing a tournament there under the regime that put him behind bars.
Click to expand...

These are very good points that shed light on the reality.
 
Cover Drive Six said:
How? On what basis are you saying this?
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Based on delusion

I am a huge kohli hater and even I believe kohli would be more popular than immy cause we have many moron fans in India that worship the choker.

Immy is 10 times the player kohli ever was in real cricket that is test cricket
 
Cover Drive Six said:
Since this discussion is about global popularity and includes mentions of footballers, I am sharing some popular football players who follow Virat Kohli. :dhoni


Paul Pogba, the French footballer and World Cup winner who has played for top clubs like Manchester United and Juventus, extended heartfelt birthday wishes to Indian cricket icon Virat Kohli.

“Virat, happy birthday my boy. He’s a legend, he is literally the best cricket player in the entire world.”

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...-stream-video-goes-viral-101730861986312.html

Former Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) wished Kohli on his birthday.

Germany and Bayern Munich footballer Thomas Muller dons Virat Kohli's jersey, wishes


The former Brazilian captain Chelsea's star defender David Luiz special wishes to Kohli

England Captain Hary Kane:

_107232535_kane.jpg.webp


David Beckham

1730879088982_David-Beckham-and-Virat-Kohli.jpeg
Click to expand...
lol is this for real? Damn thought it was bots.
 
saimayubera said:
Imran Khan is a no name outside Pakistan.

Pakistan as a country is finished so they like to cope by imagining some imagined past.

Imran Khan has been in jail for a few years now and no one from the cricketing community or his "celebrity" friends have said a word.

According to delusional Pakistanis, shouldn't he be getting the Nelson Mandela treatment from the globe?

On the other hand, the cricketing fraternity is happily playing a tournament there under the regime that put him behind bars.
Click to expand...
The problem with kids these days is that they act as if life, cricket, and people didn’t exist before they arrived on this planet. This post is a perfect example of that. :inti
 
uppercut said:
Imran benefited from a pre-social media Era when the narrative was controlled by the elite few. If he were to be playing today alongside Kohli he would be just another great Cricketer like soo many others. Some good examples are ABD or Chris Gayle or Warner or Smith or Root or Williamson or ..... all great players but no match to Kohli's stature or accomplishments. His only competition in regards to popularity is with other Mega Indian legends like MSD, Tendulkar.​

And then there is the small matter of being Social media savvy. Imran is a complete failure on that count as can be seen by his disasterous tenure as PM.
Click to expand...
What about Kohli in Imran Khan's era? Kohli is already struggling in Tests in this era, imagine his stats and achievements back then. This is exactly how people who leave their brains at home think. He considers Imran playing in today's era but refuses to think about Kohli in Imran’s time because deep down, he knows the truth would hit him hard. :sree
 
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Bhaag Viru Bhaag said:
What about Kohli in Imran Khan's era? Kohli is already struggling in Tests in this era, imagine his stats and achievements back then. This is exactly how people who leave their brains at home think. He considers Imran playing in today's era but refuses to think about Kohli in Imran’s time because deep down, he knows the truth would hit him hard. :sree
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Imran had mediocre away records.

Imagine his overall records in the time of neutral umpiring, non ball tampering and in a more professional/competitive era.

This is the truth.

Why else has Pakistan pace bowling regressed so badly when Pakistan by all socioeconomic metrics is better than they were in the 80s.
 
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saimayubera said:
The problem with old people is that they act as if life, cricket, and people peaked when they were in their youth when all evidence points otherwise. This post is a perfect example of that.

This is merely coping mechanism for aging.
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Soo true!! Very astute observation (y)
 
saimayubera said:
Imran Khan is a no name outside Pakistan.

Pakistan as a country is finished so they like to cope by imagining some imagined past.

Imran Khan has been in jail for a few years now and no one from the cricketing community or his "celebrity" friends have said a word.

According to delusional Pakistanis, shouldn't he be getting the Nelson Mandela treatment from the globe?

On the other hand, the cricketing fraternity is happily playing a tournament there under the regime that put him behind bars.
Click to expand...

Did you miss out on Richard Branson tweeting about IK?
 
kron said:
Based on delusion

I am a huge kohli hater and even I believe kohli would be more popular than immy cause we have many moron fans in India that worship the choker.

Immy is 10 times the player kohli ever was in real cricket that is test cricket
Click to expand...
Also, there are many morons who put down certain players based on their personal likes and dislikes.
 
I watched 79’s Pakistan tour of India on TV …. At that time IK and Waseem Raza (Rameez big brother) were more popular in India. At that time, Botham, Kapil, IK and Hadley, 4 all rounder were dominating cricket world. Amongst them Botham was more popular. IK was having good athletic body, but he was more popular as playboy in Eng and Australia (Sita white episode). Richards, Gavaskar, Liliee, Thompson were also popular
 
I didn’t watch cricket in the 80s, which is why I was asking if there are any articles or proof about Imran Khan being a global brand, Hollywood badsha etc., as some posters claim. There are articles where Bradman met Sachin and Warne, and he mentioned Sachin as the next greatest. I know Viv Richards was widely recognized as a global star in the cricket world.

In terms of global popularity (strictly within cricket, not Hollywood or Bollywood), I think the order is:
Bradman – Viv – Sachin – Warne – Lara. Imran Khan and Kapil Dev are at the same level of popularity in their home countries as cult heroes for bringing the World Cup to their nations. However, Imran Khan is much more popular than Kapil due to his political career.
 
Cover Drive Six said:
I didn’t watch cricket in the 80s, which is why I was asking if there are any articles or proof about Imran Khan being a global brand, Hollywood badsha etc., as some posters claim.
Click to expand...

No, IK wasn’t a global icon, IK was handsome, having athletic body. He was popular in UK, AUS party circle and having playboy image.
 
globetrotter said:
No, IK wasn’t a global icon, IK was handsome, having athletic body. He was popular in UK, AUS party circle and having playboy image.
Click to expand...
SOme of them do not understand the meaning of global superstar. Imran Khan was a massive superstar within pakistan. Outside pakistan he was well known as he was the captain. Otherwise he was not a superstar. Heck he didn't even have a nickname like King Richards, LIttle Master Gavaskar, Master blaster Sachin, Prince Lara.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
SOme of them do not understand the meaning of global superstar. Imran Khan was a massive superstar within pakistan. Outside pakistan he was well known as he was the captain. Otherwise he was not a superstar. Heck he didn't even have a nickname like King Richards, LIttle Master Gavaskar, Master blaster Sachin, Prince Lara.
Click to expand...
When people think of Imran khan, they think of the singer. No the cricketer
 
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