Kuldeep Yadav picks Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan and Paul Scholes as he chooses football equivalents for Virat Kohli and other IPL stars

Kuldeep Yadav recently compared some of the biggest stars of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and football legends, equating cricket superstar Virat Kohli to football icon Cristiano Ronaldo.

Kuldeep, a key player for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL, recently shared his thoughts on which cricketing superstar best represents the playing style and aura of football icons. When asked to compare IPL’s biggest names with footballers, he made some intriguing choices.

The first IPL player name that was mentioned was Virat Kohli, and Kuldeep Yadav compared the former Indian captain to Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo.

Rohit Sharma was next on line, and Kuldeep likened him to Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. Jasprit Bumrah was equated with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, MS Dhoni with Paul Scholes, and Rishabh Pant with Mohamed Salah.

The left-arm spinner likened himself to Bernardo Silva, Hardik Pandya to Wayne Rooney, KL Rahul to Virgil van Dijk, and Yashasvi Jaiswal was equated to Phil Foden.

Just like Ronaldo has dominated world football for over a decade, Kohli has been the backbone of Indian cricket and is regarded as one of the greatest batters of all time. The Delhi-born cricketer seems to admire Ronaldo; he did the Portuguese icon’s iconic 'Siu' celebration in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, in a cricket match between India and New Zealand.

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''He thinks he’s Cristiano Ronaldo'' – When Virat Kohli saw his football skills called into question

Virat Kohli’s achievements and longevity in cricket have seen many compare him with Cristiano Ronaldo. The 36-year-old is currently the highest run-scorer in the Indian Premier League (IPL), a similar record that Ronaldo currently holds in football.

However, former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh once questioned Kohli’s footballing abilities, accusing the latter of thinking of himself as Cristiano Ronaldo.

Yuvraj believes there are only similarities between Kohli and Cristiano off the pitch. The 2011 World Cup hero told TRS Podcast in an interview in 2023 (via GOAL):

“He thinks he's a very good footballer, but I have more skills. He is young, he runs around. He thinks he is Cristiano Ronaldo, but he isn't. In cricket, he is. In terms of fitness, it matches (their mentality), and the focus on the game also.”

While Kohli and Ronaldo are currently in the twilight years of their careers, the duo still continue to strut their stuff in their respective fields. Kohli was instrumental for India in their triumph in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Ronaldo, on the other hand, is leading the goalscoring charts in the Saudi Pro League this season.