Dubai: The ‘Men in Blue,’ as the Indian cricket team is known as, is the most popular cricket team, says a study by SEMrush.
According to the study by SEMrush, India led the chart followed by England, Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket team captain and arguably the most popular cricketer, emerged as one of most popular cricketers globally alongwith the likes of Rohit Sharma and former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Kohli was searched online an average of 1.7 million times per month from January to June this year while the Indian cricket team was searched an average of 240,000 times per month in the same time period.
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Other cricketers among the top-10, as per the study, were Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, George Mackay, Josh Richards, Hardik Pandya, Sachin Tendulkar, Chris Matthews and Shreyas Iyer. From January to June 2020, each cricketer, respectively, was searched the maximum number of times.
In addition, cricket followers across the globe were captivated by women cricketers as well. Despite not being in the top-10, Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry, were searched 12th and 20th most times, topping big names like Yuvraj Singh and Shikhar Dhawan.
“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 was quoted as saying.
“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,” he added.
