Virat & Anushka: A Gilt­-Edged Couple!
Sportstar|February 9, 2019

Virat Kohli stands second to only Salman Khan with earnings of 228.09 crore according to 2018 estimates; Anushka Sharma is at 16th with 45.83 crore, making her the third highest­paid actress and female celebrity in the country.

Namrata Joshi
Virat & Anushka: A Gilt­-Edged Couple!

A marriage in India is often spoken of rather piously as a coming together of not just two individuals but two families and cultures as well. In the case of India cricket team captain and top­order batsman Virat Kohli and Bollywood’s leading actor­producer Anushka Sharma, who tied the knot in Tuscany on December 11, 2017, it has also been a convergence of India’s two abiding passions — cricket and cinema — and a meeting ground of several business concerns and brands they endorse individually and together.

The merger and alliance, portmanteaued as Virushka, has also been about the founding of India’s most powerful and preeminent super couple. In the same league as Bennifer (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston) and Brangelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie).

According to Santosh Desai, CEO Futurebrands, both are A listers, amongst the top paid in their respective fields; both are in peak form, have a positive outward aggression and a hunger for success, victory and achievement.

“Both have very unique identity and traits. Virat on the cricket field brings his bold and confident personality that’s matched by his stellar performance, while Anushka appeals to millions with her evolution and growth as an actress of repute,” says Suraja Kishore, Executive VP and GM, McCann Mumbai.

As per Forbes India’s Celebrity 100 list of 2018 Kohli stands second to only Salman Khan with earnings of 228.09 crore; Sharma is at 16th with 45.83 crore making her the third highest­paid actress and female celebrity in the country. With a brand value of 14.5 million dollars Kohli featured at seventh position in the Forbes list of the most valuable athlete brands. In 2018 Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world and Sharma featured in Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 list of 2018.

This story is from the February 9, 2019 edition of Sportstar.

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This story is from the February 9, 2019 edition of Sportstar.

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