Kings of Instagram: Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, AB de Villiers tops in followers among cricketers

Sir Donald Bradman may have been the greatest batsman of all time, but his genius on the cricket pitch came eight decades too early for him to become an Instagram star. Even Sachin Tendulkar, who one can also make a persuasive argument for being the GOAT — and retired relatively recently — has just the second most followers among cricket players.

As it is, current India captain Virat Kohli is tops on Instagram by a wide margin as he surpassed 150 million followers. Countryman Rohit Sharma comes in a distant third place behind Tendulkar, supplanting AB de Villiers who held the spot during our last tally.

In all, eight of the top ten cricketers on Instagram are still playing, and seven of the ten are Indians. Australia captain Steve Smith edges out yet another Indian star for tenth place.

UPDATED October 20, 2023

A post shared by Steve Smith (@steve_smith49) on Aug 6, 2017 at 1:38am PDT

Steven Peter Devereux Smith
Current team: New South Wales, Sydney Sixers
Born June 2, 1989 🇦🇺 Sydney, Australia
Instagram followers: 1.9 million

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A post shared by KingGayle 👑 (@chrisgayle333)

Christopher Henry Gayle
Current team: Multan Sultans, Kings XI Punjab
Born September 21, 1979 🇯🇲 Kingston, Jamaica
Instagram followers: 3.8 million

A post shared by Harbhajan Turbanator Singh (@harbhajan3) on Apr 18, 2018 at 4:10am PDT

Harbhajan Singh Plaha
Current team: Chennai Super Kings
Born July 3, 1980 🇮🇳 Jalandhar, India
Instagram followers: 4.4 million

A post shared by Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) on Jan 24, 2017 at 11:30pm PST

Virender Sehwag
Last team: Kings XI Punjab
Born October 20, 1978 🇮🇳 Delhi, India
Instagram followers: 6.6 million

A post shared by Yuvraj Singh (@yuvisofficial) on Nov 20, 2017 at 2:54am PST

Yuvraj Singh
Current team: Kings XI Punjab
Born December 12, 1981 🇮🇳 Chandigarh, India
Instagram followers: 11.7 million

A post shared by AB de Villiers (@abdevilliers17) on Nov 9, 2017 at 6:20am PST

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers
Current team: Titans, Royal Challengers Bangalore
Born February 14, 1984 🇿🇦 Pretoria, South Africa
Instagram followers: 15.1 million

A post shared by Suresh Raina (@sureshraina3) on Apr 16, 2018 at 1:41am PDT

Suresh Raina
Current team: Chennai Super Kings
Born November 27, 1986 🇮🇳 Muradnagar, India
Instagram followers: 18.4 million

A post shared by Rohit Sharma (@rohitsharma45) on Jun 6, 2017 at 11:13am PDT

Rohit Gurunath Sharma
Current team: Mumbai Indians
Born April 30, 1987 🇮🇳 Nagpur, India
Instagram followers: 22.3 million

A post shared by Sachin Tendulkar (@sachintendulkar) on Nov 15, 2017 at 10:41pm PST

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Last team: Marylebone Cricket Club
Born April 24, 1973 🇮🇳 Mumbai, India
Instagram followers: 32.8 million

A post shared by Virat Kohli (@virat.kohli) on May 18, 2017 at 4:00am PDT

Virat Kohli
Current team: Royal Challengers Bangalore
Born November 5, 1988 🇮🇳 Delhi, India
Instagram followers: 181 million