The India captain, Virat Kohli emerged as the only cricketer in the world’s top-10 list of highest-earning athletes through sponsored Instagram posts during the lockdown, according to a report. He is standing at the sixth position on the list, the figures for which were collected by ‘Attain’ during the period between March 12 and May 14, when the world literally shut down to stem the growth of the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the list, Kohli earned a total of £379,294 (₹3,60,76,933.83) through his sponsored posts, raking up £126,431 per post. Juventus superstar and Portugal football team captain Cristiano Ronaldo has continued to lead Instagram’s highest-paid list even in the lockdown phase.

At a time when the entire world has been facing the wrath of the coronavirus pandemic, star athletes like Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Shaquille O’Neal, and David Beckham have still managed to earn big fat checks through the photo and video sharing platform.

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According to a research report by Attain, Ronaldo has fetched a whopping £1,888,336 (₹17,96,10,995.49) through his posts on Instagram during the COVID-19 lockdown period from March 12 to May 4, 2020. Ronaldo has 222 million followers on Instagram and the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star receive an estimated  £470,584 (₹4,47,60,074.85 ) per sponsored post.

FC Barcelona legend and Argentine stalwart Lionel Messi is second on the list with total earnings of £1,299,373 (₹123,59,1,086.77) through sponsored posts. Messi’s former teammate at the Camp Nou, Neymar, is third as the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) superstar minted £1,192,211 (₹11,33,98,359.48) in total during the lockdown phase.

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While Shaquille O’Neal is the first non-footballer in the list after fetching £583,628 (₹5,55,12,369.66) for making 16 sponsored posts, Team India skipper Virat has bagged the sixth position after making £379,294 (₹3,60,76,933.83) from 3 sponsored posts during the lockdown phase.