In a survey conducted by YouGov, a United Kingdom-based market research company, wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni ranks second to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the most admired men list pertaining to India. This finding was part of a larger exercise ‘World’s most admired 2019’, in which more than 42,000 people were interviewed across 41 countries. While PM Modi has an admiration score of 15.66%, the former India captain has received a score of 8.58%. Overall, the PM’s rank has improved as far as world popularity is concerning, jumping two positions to the sixth position.  

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Most admired in India 

The list has been divided into the male as well as female categories. The most admired global individual in the male category is Bill Gates. It was revealed that the industrialist Ratan Tata was the third-most admired person in India. Tata, along with Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni appear exclusively in the list pertaining to India. On the other hand, PM Modi, Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan are included in both the world as well as India’s most admired category. Among the women, Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen and Priyanka Chopra have found a place in the global and India’s most admired section. However, Olympic Bronze medalist and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Mary Kom tops the chart in the Indian female category, with an admiration score of 10.36%. She is followed by Dr. Kiran Bedi, Lata Mangeshkar and the late Sushma Swaraj.  

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Research methodology 

YouGov surveyed the participants online. It conducted the poll in countries that constitute more than two-thirds of the world’s population. The process panned out in two distinct stages.

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First, in November 2018, the respondents were asked, “Thinking about people alive in the world today, which [man or woman] do you most admire?’’ The second stage in March 2019 focused on asking two questions: “who do you truly admire?”, where respondents could make multiple selections, and “who do you MOST admire?’’

A combination of the two questions could help the company understand the global reach and intensity of an individual’s support.  

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