Virat Kohli beats Lionel Messi in Forbes' Fab 40 list

Top-10 list for world's most valuable sports brands has a new entrant

Year in year out, Forbes' Fab 40 lists are dominated by European and American athletes, who operate in more lucrative and larger markets.

Sports stars from this part of the world would rarely get a look in, with the top 10s almost always featuring a combo of the LeBron Jameses and Cristiano Ronaldos.

Another regular fixture of such lists is Argentina's football extraordinaire Lionel Messi, who is considered one of the top brands in sports, thanks to his otherworldly brilliance.

But that has changed this year, with Virat Kohli breaking into the top 10 athletes of Forbes' list of most valuable sports brand of 2017.

And the Indian cricket team captain has not just cracked the list, he has actually left the great Messi in his wake.

The Argentine's brand value has actually depreciated by 10% from last year and now stands at $13.5 million, good enough for just ninth place on the list.

Kohli, meanwhile, in his first appearance, has a brand value of $14.5m and sits in seventh place on the list.

He is also ahead of eight-placed Rory McIlroy ($13.6m) and 10^th-placed Stephen Curry ($13.4m).

At the top of the list though is tennis maestro Roger Federer ($37.2m), whose brand value has gone up by 3.3%, thanks to a late career renaissance that has seen him win two grand slams in 2017.

At number two is another famous name in LeBron James, whose value has gone down by 1.8% to $33.4m, probably down to his Cleveland Cavaliers losing to Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.