A study revealed that the captain of the Indian cricket team is the most popular cricketer in the world. Moreover, his men in blue also are the most popular cricket team, as per a SEMrush study.
Kohli and ‘Men in Blue’ top chart
The study suggests that Virat Kohli has searched online an average of 16.2 lakh per month from January to June this year. Remember Kohli has been out of action since March-end in the wake of the COVID-19. So, no matter whether he is playing cricket or not, Kohli’s fanbase knows no limit. The other cricketers among the top 10 are Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, George Mackay, Josh Richards, Hardik Pandya, Sachin Tendulkar, Chris Matthews, and Shreyas Iyer. As per the study, from January to June 2020, each player has searched an average of 9.7, 9.4, 9.1, 7.1, 6.7, 5.4, 4.1, and 3.4 lakh times.
On the other hand, Kohli’s Indian cricket team has searched an average of 2.4 lakh times per month in the same time period and made it to the top. The leading teams’ list was followed by England, Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Afghanistan, and Zimbabwe. Each cricket team was searched .66, .33, .29, .23, .16, .12, .12, .09, .05, .04, and .03 lakh times per month respectively.
Not any more men’s sport
Interestingly, Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry are ranked 12th and 20th most times on the list. “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 India, the most searched cricket team is unsurprising, what’s surprising is that women cricketers are being searched more often than a lot of top-rated men,” Fernando Angulo, Head of Communications, SEMrush said.
The Head added, “Our study suggests that stereotypes of cricket as a man only sport no longer hold. There is considerable enthusiasm about women cricketers and women playing cricket. In the future, there are likely to be many more women playing cricket, and India, as the most important cricket playing nation is likely to supply many of them.”
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