Virat Kohli today is a global icon and undoubtedly the most followed cricketer on the planet. The 31-year-old is amongst the finest athletes in the world that has an incredible fan following. A recent study has reinforced the fact that India skipper is certainly the most popular cricketer in the world.
According to SEMrush study, fans searched Kohli on an average of 16.2 lakh times from January to June this year. While, other cricketers in the top as per the study were Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Sachin Tendulkar and Shreyas Iyer. The study proves that Indian cricketers lead the pack when it comes to popularity as they possess a tremendous fan following worldwide.
Meanwhile, when it comes to the most popular cricket team unsurprisingly the Indian team led the list by a huge margin. According to the same report, the Indian cricket team has been searched an average of 2.4 lakh times per month in the first half of 2020. The men in blue where followed by England, Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
Virat Kohli most followed cricketer globally
Additionally, two women cricketers, Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry also starred in the list at number 12 and 20 respectively. The head of communications of SEMrush Fernando Angulo stated that there is considerable enthusiasm for women cricketers. He also added that fans nowadays search women’s cricketer more than plenty of top male cricketers.
“While we are not entirely surprised by the results of our study, we are excited nonetheless. Finding that Virat Kohli is the most searched cricketer and the Indian team is the most searched team is not surprising. What’s surprising is that women cricketers are being searched more often than a lot of top-rated men”, said Fernando Angulo.
“Our study suggests that stereotypes of cricket as a man-only spot no longer hold. There is considerable enthusiasm about women cricketers and women playing cricket. In future there are likely to be more women playing cricket and India as the most important cricket playing nation, is likely to supply many of them,” he added.
Meanwhile, the India women cricketers will next be in action during the T20 challenge in UAE during the IPL from November 1 to November 10. Whereas all Indian male cricketers will make a comeback to cricket in IPL 2020. The 13th edition of the IPL will take place between September 19- November 10 in UAE for the second time.
