Ben Stokes leaves Virat Kohli behind, has most expensive cricket signatures

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has superseded Australian cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman and India’s captain Virat Kohli in the list of the world’s most expensive memorabilia by leaps. India leads the world chart in the average price of items signed by its cricketers, while Pakistan is at the bottom.

India's Virat Kohli (L) and England's Ben Stokes have the cricket world's most expensive memorabilia signatures. Source: AAP Image/Tamil Nadu Picture by BCCI/Supplied By Focus Images/Sipa USA

Highlights

• England cricketer Ben Stokes’s signed memorabilia is most valuable, with an average price of $4,212
• Australia's Bradman stands 2nd with an average price of $3,600; India's Virat Kohli’s signatures fetch $2,350 on average
• India tops world cricket memorabilia charts with an average price at $555, Pakistan trails at $150

According to a research titled ‘Most Expensive Signatures’, conducted by Cricket Bet India, a cricket betting website, cricket fans will need to shell out more money to own memorabilia signed by Stokes than any other cricketer.

On average, items signed by Stokes cost approximately $4,212. In Indian currency, the amount is equivalent to INR 237,234.57. There are seven items in all signed by him. His most expensive is a signed match T-shirt priced at a whopping $26,801.17, or over INR 1.5 million.

Not far behind even 70 years after he stopped playing the game is Australia’s, Sir Donald Bradman. Considered an all-time great in world cricket and nicknamed ‘The Don’, his insurmountable batting average of 99.9 perhaps contributes to this laurel. The one item signed by him (a framed picture), is likely to fetch almost $3,600 or just over INR 200,000.

Sir Donald Bradman. Source: Wikimedia

At berth number three, is India’s Virat Kohli, said to be the finest performer on the cricket field today. Cheaper than Stokes by a wide 79 per cent margin, the price of seven items signed by him average nearly $2,350, or INR 132,322. Kohli’s most expensive memorabilia item is a signed helmet priced at nearly $4,500 or roughly INR 252,000.

With seven items each, Stokes and Kohli are separated by $1,862 in terms of their average memorabilia price.

The Cricket Bet India research on memorabilia. Source: Cricket Bet India

Recent the International Cricket Council (ICC) released it world cricket rankings, in which Stokes topped the chart for Test all-rounders whereas Kohli leads the ODI all-rounders’ pack.

Overall, the most highly-priced team in terms of memorabilia value is India, with an average price of almost $555 or just over INR 32,000. West Indies is a close second at almost $475 or INR 27,000 approximately.

Australia stands third with an average memorabilia price of nearly $345 or INR 19,437. Pakistan finds a place at the bottom of the chart with an average price of under $150 or INR 8,400.

Cricket Bet India's chart on teamwise average memorabilia prices. Source: Cricket Bet India

Six of the top ten players are from India. Memorabilia signed by M. S. Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Shikhar Dhawan, K.L. Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane also command average prices ranging between $625 (INR 35,00) and $1607 (INR 91,000) approximately.

These results have been extrapolated from a research based on 430 signed items available for purchase on leading online memorabilia sites and 105 players Australia, India, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa.

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