
New Delhi: Virat Kohli will continue to set benchmark in 2018, striking an
endorsement deal unheard of in the history of Indian sports and
international cricket, apart from breaking a plethora of records,
predicts a renowned astrologer.
Narendra Bunde, a resident of
Nagpur and a 'cricket astrologer' by profession, had "foretold" last
year that Mahendra Singh Dhoni, now 36, would be playing in the 2019
World Cup in England, at a time when many questioned his place in the
limited overs game.
Now, he predicts Kohli will win the T20
World Cup, ODI World Cup and break Sachin Tendulkar's record of 100
international centuries by 2025.
"All my past predictions had
been correct. I can see Virat winning the T20 and ODI World Cup by 2025
and also break Sachin's record," Bunde said.
"Besides, he will
also strike the biggest ever endorsement deal in cricket in 2018. You
can somewhat compare this with Tendulkar's record signing with Mark
Mascarenhas' Worldtel but the money involved will be obviously bigger
today."
In the 1990s when Tendulkar was going great guns, Mascarenhas
changed the game of celebrity management and turned the cricket icon
into a multi-millionaire.
Having got his predictions right about
Tendulkar's comeback from tennis elbow injury, his Bharat Ratna honour,
Sourav Ganguly's comeback, India's World Cup triumph in 2011, Bunde
says that time has come for Kohli's team to taste success abroad.
India toured South Africa recently and will travel to England in the summer followed by a tour of Australia.
"Kohli's Venus is very strong at the moment and that is why he will do
well abroad. And I am very sure India will do really well in Australia."
Bunde, who turned to predicting the future of cricketers in 2006, was a jeweller before that.
Among those who have taken his advice are Ganguly, Murali Karthik, S Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina.
Even actress Preity Zinta had sought his guidance when her IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab was going through a torrid time.
PTI