MS Dhoni may be currently taking a hiatus from international cricket but when it comes to the popularity of the former Indian captain, he continues to be widely loved and admired by fans across the world.

In a survey conducted by YouGuv to vote the most admired men and women across the world and in India, Dhoni was ranked the second most admired person by over 42,000 people across 41 nations. Dhoni stood only second behind Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was hailed as the most admirable person in India.

Bill Gates and Michelle Obama lead the list for men and women category respectively worldwide while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and boxer Mary Kom lead the way in respective categories in India, as per a survey conducted by YouGov.

When it comes to sports-persons, Indian skipper MS Dhoni bags the pole position in the men's category with an admiration score of 8.58%. Following Dhoni in the list of sportsmen are, Sachin Tendulkar (5.81%), Virat Kohli (4.46%), Cristiano Ronaldo (2.95%), Lionel Messi (2.32%).

Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, and Salman Khan also featured in the top 20 most admired men in the world.

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.

The popularity index for Dhoni indicates that despite not having a very clear future in the Indian team, Mahi continues to garner respect and admiration from his fans for his past exploits in the cricket field for the nation.