Kohli, a giant on social media as well!

Virat Kohli. Pic/AFP

India's Virat Kohli, who announced his Test retirement on Monday, is well known for his records on the field, but is a giant off it too, on social media.

Looked up to by many, Kohli, is the most-followed Indian on Instagram and the most-followed cricketer globally with over 270 million followers. He is third on the list of most followed athletes, only behind football greats Cristiano Ronaldo (653 million) of Portugal and Argentine Lionel Messi (505 million).

Also Read: Ex-selector Raju calls Kohli a trendsetter

Kohli's reach on Instagram is not just in his following, but in interactions as well. Not known to post too often, the few times Kohli does post, it tends to "break the internet." Kohli's post on India's T20 World Cup triumph in 2024 became the first by an Indian to hit 20 million ‘likes', surpassing the previous record held by bollywood couple Kiara Advani and Siddharth Malhotra's wedding announcement post (16 million).

The star batter also happens to be the most followed cricketer on X, with over 67 million followers. He leads the way on Facebook too, with over 50 million fans.