Will Virat Kohli’s brand value dip after his Test retirement call?

kolkata: The dust is slowly settling down on Virat Kohli’s retirement from Test arena – now that a new captain and the much-awaited squad was announced last weekend. If the Indian cricket fan is bothered about who will be the right choice to walk in as No.4 against England from next month, India Inc is left wondering whether Kohli’s sky-high brand value will take a beating in view of his international appearances being limited to only the ODI format from now on.

If industry experts are to be believed, the Test retirement is not going to cast any shadow on the fortunes of arguably the most marketable brand in the country – at par with the Bollywood bigwigs like Shah Rukh Khan and Ranveer Singh. A brand valuation report from Kroll back in 2023 says that the former Indian captain had reclaimed the top spot as the most valuable brand at $ 227.9 million – despite having quit all forms of captaincy the previous year.

Is it more an emotional response about Kohli’s brand value or based on clinical market rationale? Mohit Hira, an industry veteran and co-founder of Myriad Communications & Venture Partner, YourNest Capital Advisors, feels his exit from Test cricket – contrary to popular brief – is likely to push up his valuation further.

Speaking to Millennium Post, Hira broke it down: ‘’Virat Kohli has endorsed over 40 brands which must be some kind of a record. While his face was once so visible that it created a vampire effect in our parlance (in which consumers often recall the ambassador but not the brand), his exit from Test cricket is likely to push up his valuation: like a painter or sculptor’s works of art, controlling supply tends to drive up price. Virat the cricketer may be absent (for a substantial part of the season), but Virat the brand will still be around: he is an astute businessman and is hardly likely to disappear into the sunset. I can only see more spin-offs: brand franchises, merchandise, picky selection of relevant endorsements… all of which will make him even more coveted and more valued. He’s also very careful of his on-screen persona, so you’re unlikely to see him pretending to be a farmer peddling fertilisers. Like his game, his endorsements are also very real,’’ chipped in Hira.

Late last year, Kohli made heads turn in the industry when he parted ways with Cornerstone, the celebrity and event management company headed by his longtime friend Bunty Sajdeh – the latter having signed on young turks like Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina years back.

The reasons for the break-up are not very well known, but an Kohli went on to join hands with Sporting Beyond.