New Delhi: Indian skipper and Royal Challengers Bangalore Captain Virat Kohli has emerged as the most searched Indian player followed by former Indian skipper MS Dhoni & Rohit Sharma, reveals a study by SEMrush , an online visibility management, and content marketing SaaS platform. The study also states that Nita Ambani’s owned Mumbai Indians tops the chart as the most searched IPL team followed by Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals.
When the cricket fever grips the nation with the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, this information shows how these players have become household names with their stellar performances over the years. Virat Kohli has been searched 14,43,333 times whereas M.S Dhoni by 8,91,000 times over a period from January to March 2019. Also, Mumbai Indians were searched 4,56,000 times in 2019 as compare to CSK with 2,69,167 searches in the 2019 & Delhi Capitals with 207233 times.
The most “loved” by fans on social media is Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with a total audience of 22.32 mn followed by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with total audience of 20.19 mn. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has maximum fans on YouTube – 504k subscribers and Mumbai Indians has the maximum audience on Instagram 2.9 mn. The most followed team on Twitter is CSK.
Likewise, cricket fans desire to meet Virat Kohli more than any other player (average monthly search in 2018 and 2019). However, in March 2019, the most frequent question was on “how to meet MS Dhoni”. It’s been asked 1,3 times more often. Also, there is an increasing desire to buy IPL tickets in 2019 than it was in 2018. As per SEMrush study, people searched 2, 31 times more often to buy a ticket for the IPL in 2019 than in 2018. (as per the data in February, March,2018 and 2019).
Commenting on the study findings, Mr. Fernando Angulo, Head of International Partnership, SEMrush said, “The love for the game in India is extraordinary. Cricket is a religion in India. Here every two boys among five wants to be a cricket player and the study findings are just apt to describe how fans love these players and teams”.
