Are Virat, Dhoni, Tendulkar more popular than SRK, Big B, Salman? This country-wide report surely suggests so

With 4000 respondents across 36 Indian cities, Hansa research drew up a list of top 10 celebrities, across the cricketing sector and films, to come up with the top 10 rank holders when it comes their stardom. Cricket being akin to religion in India is not really news, but would you have thought that Virat Kohli would have more star power than Shah Rukh Khan? It’s not entirely unbelievable, but then again seeing an affirmative report really puts things into perspective.

Virat ranking higher than SRK is not the only cincher we have. As a matter of fact, cricketing legends hold the top 3 consecutive ranks on the list with the Bollywood brigade only catching on from rank 4. So we have Virat leading the charge, followed by MS Dhoni and then Sachin Tendulkar. Virat is still raucously active on the field and in the public eye, but for Dhoni and Tendulkar to snag ranks 2 and 3 on the list despite characteristically maintaining a low profile, speaks to their evergreen legacy, if anyone needed any proof. Ranks 4, 5, 6 are held by Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan respectively. Rank 7 is special with Allu Arjun gracing it, with the Pushpa 2: The Rule star being the only South acting heavyweight to feature on this list. At 8 we have Salman Khan followed by Hrithik Roshan at 9. Deepika Padukone incidentally, is the only woman on the list at rank 10.

A power-packed list for sure. Do you agree with these rankings?