MS Dhoni surprisingly ranked 3rd amongst most searched cricketers in the world

Former Indian captain MS Dhoni may not have played international cricket for over a year now, but that doesn’t seem to have diminished his popularity one bit. A SEMrush study has ranked the most searched cricketers as well as the most searched cricket teams online. The top spot was claimed by Indian captain Virat Kohli, with Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni rounding out the top three. All the three players will be seen back in action soon as they aim to lead their sides to a title victory in IPL 2020.

Also Read: IPL 2020 To See Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Replacing VIVO As Title Sponsors?

Virat Kohli most searched cricketer online

The study by SEMrush found that Virat Kohli was the most searched cricketer in the first half of 2020. The RCB captain, who will be hoping to win the title for the first time during IPL 2020 was searched an average of 16.2 lakh times per month from January to June in 2020. Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was a distant second after Virat Kohli, with the 33-year-old’s name being searched on an average of 9.7 lakh times during the same period.

Despite not being in action for over a year, MS Dhoni proved that he is still in the minds of cricket fans as he ranked third on the list with 9.4 lakh average searches per month during the first six months of the year. Indian cricket’s dominance on the international stage was evident in the rankings as well, with three more cricketers ranking in the top 10. Hardik Pandya, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and young gun Shreyas Iyer were searched 7.1, 6.7 and 4.1 lakh times per month on an average from January to June 2020. Other players to make the top 10 were George Mackay, Josh Richards and Chris Matthews.

Also Read: RCB Head Claims Team Set To Depart For UAE In Last Week Of August For Playing IPL 2020

Women’s cricket has been gaining popularity amongst fans in recent times as well, with the search statistics backing up that fact. Cricketing icons like Ellyse Perry and Smriti Mandhana were ranked 12th and 20th respectively, as they were placed ahead of big names like Yuvraj Singh and Shikhar Dhawan. Speaking about Virat Kohli topping the charts, Fernando Angulo, Head of Communications of SEMrush said that while they aren’t surprised by the results of the study, the findings are surely exciting. The communications head concluded that it is not surprising to see Virat Kohli at the top. However, he expressed his surprise at seeing women cricketers fare better than several established cricketers.

Also Read: CSK To Hold Training Camp In Chennai Before Departing To UAE For IPL 2020: Reports

Indian cricket team top of the search charts 

While Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni topped the chart in individual ratings, the Indian cricket team also came out in front in team search rankings. India led the chart with a total of 0.66 lakh searches per month, with England and Australia placed next with 0.33 and 0.29 lakh searches per month respectively. Interestingly, India’s searches were a full 100% more than that of England, a marker of their dominance. The rest of the list includes West Indies, Pakistan, South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Afghanistan, and Zimbabwe in that order, with the teams clocking searches of 0.29, 0.23, 0.16, 0.12, 0.12, 0.09, 0.05, 0.04, and 0.03 lakh times per month respectively.

Also Read: MS Dhoni's Unique Way Of Boosting Struggling CSK Bowlers In IPL Revealed By Muralitharan

Image Courtesy: PTI