Virat Kohli 2nd most followed Indian sportsperson on FB, crosses 20m

New Delhi: Star batsman Virat Kohli on Friday became the second most followed Indian sportsperson on 'Facebook' behind iconic Sachin Tendulkar as he crossed the 20-million mark, the social networking site said.

26-year-old Kohli, the first Indian batsman to score a century against arch-rivals Pakistan in a World Cup match in the 76-run victory on February 15, currently has 20,002,000 followers on Facebook. He is the second Indian sportsperson to cross 20 million benchmark behind Tendulkar who currently has 24,775,138 followers.

Globally, Kohli is listed at 20th position, while Tendulkar occupies 13th spot in the list of sportspersons who have maximum followers on Facebook.

Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with 107 million, followed by his arch-rival Leo Messi of Argentina with 78 million followers on Facebook respectively.

Kohli has taken over Tendulkar as the most followed cricketer globally on the micro-blogging site 'Twitter' in December last.

"This is yet another milestone on Virat's ever growing list of achievements on and off the field. Virat has gone from 5 million last year to 20 million on facebook today, which is an extraordinary rate of climb and clearly emphasises his popularity and reach as a youth icon. He is extremely happy and humbled to say the least," said Bunty Sajdeh, CEO Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment in a release. ---- PTI