It's almost a month since team India lifted the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Barbados. Soon after, the team's captain Rohit Sharma and former captain and man-of-the-match in the final, Virat Kohli announced their retirement from the shortest format of the game.

After the hurricane in Barbados subsided, the Indian cricket team flew back to India, first meeting up with the Prime Minister of the country in New Delhi, and were then received by millions of fans in Mumbai for a victory parade. 

Thereafter, Kohli flew straight to London to unite with his family, amid speculation that they will now be based in the city to live a more 'normal life'. Sharma, meanwhile was in Mumbai for media interactions and then was in the public eye again as he attended parts of the recent Ambani wedding, before flying off to London himself to make a notable appearance at Wimbledon.

As per a recent celebrity brand valuation report by Kroll, Kohli topped the ranks to become India's most-valued celebrity with a USD 227.9 million brand value in 2023, while Sharma stood number 18 (ironically, that's Kohli's jersey number) with a valuation of USD 41 million.

Given the recent events, we reached out to experts to find out whether 'brand Rohit' (who has 41.2 million followers on Instagram) is closing the gap on 'brand Virat' (who has 270 million followers on Instagram), or whether the latter will continue to reign supreme.

Given that he was captain of the T20 World Cup-winning team, has Brand Rohit caught up or is closing the gap with Brand Virat?

Jitender Dabas, COO and CSO, McCann Worldgroup (JD): We all need heroes in our lives, and sports provide heroes as real as they get. For a sportsperson/athlete to be valued as a brand, their professional success surely makes them a hero that people look up to. But their real value multiplies when they start representing something bigger than their sporting success. That expands their connection with their followers. Virat represents the spirit of this fearless new India, at one end the epitome of athletic excellence achieved through superhuman effort, at the other. His on-field intensity and off-field humanity make him emotionally more relatable. Therefore, his brand value is much more than his sporting achievements and will remain more than other athletes even with similar success credentials.

But certainly, the emotional brand value of Rohit Sharma, the comeback leader who led from the front to get us the trophy after the heartbreak of 2023, will definitely increase. It’s a story arc that has created millions of new fans of the ‘Hitman’ and given brands the opportunity to leverage it.

Carol Goyal, executive director, Rediffusion, director, Indian Institute of Human Brands (CG): Virat has always had the ‘X’ factor that few other Indian sportsmen have ever had. In our IIHB studies, Virat has always top scored on ‘sexy’ and ‘stylish’ and these attributes have led to him being seen as a heart-throb beyond just his cricketing performances. His personal charisma rivals, in fact outscores, matinee heroes. It is not that Rohit actually lagged Virat as a cricketing superstar. It is just that they were always in two different quadrants - Rohit was and is dependable and reliable; Virat as said before is sexy and stylish. So the RTB for both of them for brands lies in very different motivations.

Has the WC win cemented Rohit? Well in a manner of speaking, yes. But on his core differentiators of dependability and reliability, Rohit is already in 90+ percentile. So very little headroom to grow for him there. The additional value of the WC victory has therefore been marginal.

Pradeep Dwivedi, group CEO, Eros Media World (PD): - Brand Rohit will definitely gain, but not at the expense of brand Virat. If anything, the gap may see marginal bridging at best.
 

While Rohit was in India for the post-win celebrations and media commitments, Virat flew to London to spend time with his family, with several unconfirmed media reports claiming the latter is shifting base to London. Would this move have any impact on his brand value? 

JD: Not attending a big wedding and instead choosing to spend quality time with your family. Do you like your hero more or less for doing that? You should ask a Virat Kohli fan that question, and you will get the right answer.

CG: Specifically on the Ambani wedding, I think it is well known fact that Virat Kohli has always felt that there was an Ambani hand in his being dethroned as India captain and that they helped get Rohit get the top job. So his distance from the wedding celebrations is understandable. Also brand Virat doesn’t need any social crutches to be visible.

PD: Very unlikely. Cricket’s appeal and audience is global and therefore, Virat’s physical location is a moot consideration.

Would the duo retiring from international T20s impact their brand value in any way?

JD: Retiring from international T20s will reduce their on-field saliency certainly, but Rohit continues to be the captain of Team India, and therefore I don’t see a drop in brand value in the immediate future. An ICC Test Championship win can increase his brand value even more.

CG: Yes, retirement does signal that the star is now past his ‘best before date’ but then Dhoni repositioned himself from attributes like ‘performance’ and ‘leader’ to ‘respected’ and ‘loved by all’. So both Virat and Rohit could pivot to new a positioning.

PD: I think the decay curve would favour brand Virat as he has a longer trajectory of success and personal qualities that stand out for brand salience and resonance with audience. For Brand Rohit, a post retirement re-invention of sorts would be germane to his value enhancement, if any.

What’s the major difference between Brand Rohit and Brand Virat?

JD: There is no point comparing the two brands as the story arcs are very different. If Virat’s story is of hard work, intensity, and combativeness, Rohit’s infinite talent as well as his demeanour often end up making everything look too easy, including his mammoth achievements on the field, as a player as well as a leader. When things look too easy, we aren’t able to see the hardships and imperfections that make us love our heroes.

CG: As stated earlier, Rohit is dependable; Virat is sexy and stylish.

PD: Virat has a more wide-based appeal across key demographics and that lends to versatility for many categories. As one-half of a celebrity couple with wife Anushka’s stature adds to the lustre and appeal for brand Virat. 

Besides these two, who is the most marketable among the current crop of T20 players?

JD: For any new stars to emerge, it has to be a combination of their talent, their success, their persona, and their story arc. Someone like Yashaswi Jaiswal has the talent as well as a fascinating narrative, Shubman (Gill) has talent as well as success, and Rishabh Pant’s story has become more inspiring after his comeback. Which of them can successfully stand for things bigger than their success will determine their brand value.

CG: Shubman Gill has potential if he is consistent. Rishabh Pant has some appeal. Surya Kumar Yadav is still nebulous as a brand. Yashasvi Jaiswal and all the others are still work-in-progress.

PD: From a brand perspective - I’d say Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shivam Dube, Jaspreet Bumrah are good bets, perhaps a few others too, but their brand mettle and steel is yet to be tempered and tested fully!