YouGov conducted a survey of 42,000 people from 41 countries to create the list of most admired celebrities.
Legendary cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is reportedly the second most admired man in India behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
YouGov conducted a survey of 42,000 people from 41 countries to create the list of most admired celebrities across two categories, male and female. And as it turned out, in India, PM Modi and boxer Mary Kom led the way in respective genders, while overall Bill Gates and Michelle Obama were placed at the top of the two world charts.
Amidst sportspersons, Dhoni bagged an admiration score of 8.58%, only second behind the PM who leads the table with a score of 15.66%.
Following Dhoni in the list of sportsmen are Sachin Tendulkar (5.81%), Virat Kohli (4.46%), Cristiano Ronaldo (2.95%), Lionel Messi (2.32%).
In the women's category, Mary Kom (10.36%) is the only sportswomen in the top 25, with the likes of Kiran Bedi, Lata Mangeshkar, Sushma Swaraj, Deepika Padukone following her in the top 5.