Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli in top 5 of the most admired sportspersons in the world; Ronaldo, Mess lead list

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London, December 18: Former India captain Sachin Tendulkar has become the third most admired sportsperson in the world.

Current India Test captain Virat Kohli is the fourth most admired sportsperson in the world, reported Goal.com.

The top two spots are taken by football stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

As per a survey conducted by YouGov, a British market research and data analytics firm, Tendulkar and Kohli are overtaken by Ronaldo and Messi.

The study has ranked former US President Barack Obama as the most admired person in the world, across various fields, followed by Bill Gates and Xi Jinping.

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 8th most admired person while Bollywood celebrities like Shahrukh Khan (14th) and Amitabh Bachchan (15th) are also present on the list.

Talking about most admired women, Barack Obama's wife Michelle Obama tops the list, followed by Angelina Jolie and Queen Elizabeth II.

Ganguly keeps mum on Kohli issue

Kohli had opened a can of worms during Indian cricket team’s pre-departure press conference, asserting that there was no prior communication with him on captaincy change.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly on Friday (December 17) refused to speak on white-ball captaincy row following remarks of Virat Kohli on his earlier comments.

"Let's not take this further, I have nothing to say," Sourav Ganguly told reporters here.

Asked if there would be any action taken against Virat Kohli after the South Africa tour, Ganguly said, "I have nothing to say. It is the matter of the BCCI and they will only deal with it."

A day after Kohli was removed as the ODI captain, BCCI President Ganguly had said that he had indeed spoken to Virat regarding the leadership change adding that he had requested Virat to also not give up the T20I captaincy.

"It's a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white ball formats," Ganguly had said.

“So, it was decided that Virat will continue as Test captain and Rohit will take over as the white-ball captain. I as President personally spoke to Virat Kohli and the chairman of selectors has also spoken to him," the BCCI president had added.

However, Virat Kohli held a press conference on Wednesday and contradicted Ganguly, saying he was never asked to leave the T20I captaincy.

"Whatever was said about the communication that happened during the decision that was made was inaccurate. I was contacted one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting on 8th for the Test series," said Kohli during the press meet.

Virat Kohli-led Indian red-ball squad is in Johannesburg, South Africa, to lock horns with Proteas in the three-match Test series. The first Test match begins on December 2.

India are trying to win their first-ever Test series in South Africa and now will have to ward off this off-field distraction. India will be coached by former India skipper Rahul Dravid.