Bolt congratulates Kohli on Puma deal

Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt has reached out to Indian superstar Virat Kohli with a congratulatory message after the latter inked a reported 110-crore-rupee deal with Puma.

Kohli became the first Indian to sign an endorsement deal worth upwards 100 crore with a single brand, penning the eight-year deal on February 20.

Kohli will join the host of stars that Puma have signed including sprinter Asafa Powell and footballers Thierry Henry and Oliver Giroud.

However, Puma’s highest-profile asset is Bolt himself, who has represented Puma for a long time.

In 2016, Bolt earned 32.5 million dollars from appearances, prize money and sponsors, which was roughly 10 times what other track and field stars like Mo Farah and Ashton Eaton made in the same year. Bolt let Kohli know that the Indian star had made a wise decision through twitter.

After Bolt’s historic performance in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Gatorade , Hublot and Virgin Media quickly signed deals with the star, but Puma had represented him even before that. However, Kohli’s deal will not bother Bolt in the least, as the Jamaican’s reported earnings from the endorsement are annually in the eight-figure range.