Right through the year 2024, we kept an eye on cricketers who displayed themselves brightly in the cricketing season and also noted patterns in their popularity across social media platforms. It is no secret that the their success during tournaments like the IPL and other international series affects their online followers count. Let’s consider Instagram as an example, and check out followers’ growth for a set of Indian cricketers from the Jan to close to the end of 2024.
Indian cricketers popularity on social media in 2024
1. Suryakumar Yadav
Let’s start our social media popularity analysis with Suryakumar Yadav, one of the most popular Indian cricketers who helped India win the 2024 T20 World Cup final with a great boundary line catch. At the start of 2024, he had 12.5 million followers on Instagram, and by the end of our survey period, 16.7 million. During the year, he gained 4.22 million new followers, with a growth rate exceeding 25%.
More than half of this number (2.3 million) followed him by April itself, before the active cricketing season started. Why the growth? At the beginning of the year, SKY won the prestigious ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year award for the second consecutive time. And then of course, the IPL 2024 season helped him gain more popularity.
Injuries and unsuccessful games for SKY didn’t lead to an outflow of subscribers. Not being included in the ODI squad hasn’t affected his popularity either. However, at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, with one of the best catches in cricket history, he increased his recognition once again. Between 29 June to 16 July itself, 1+ million followers joined him!
Pakistani fans accused Surya of cheating, saying he pushed the boundary while fielding earlier. Indians immediately stood up for their player, the scandal also leading to an increase in his audience. It proves that active supporters advocate for the player and can protect them from negativity online.
2. Shubman Gill
The opening batter started 2024 with 12.1 million followers on Instagram, growing quickly since his Gujarat Titans captain appointment. He had some impressive performances at the start of the year including a couple of records. In an IPL 2024 game, Shubman Gill scored 89 runs against Punjab. Then, against Rajasthan, he completed 4,000 runs in T20s at the age of 24 years and 215 days; he broke the record of Virat Kohli, who got there at 26 years and 186 days.
In August, Gill crossed the 15 million followers mark. A deepfake video of India’s Virat Kohli criticizing Gill emerged and this was heavily covered in the news; instead of negativity, Gill ended up receiving a load of new followers. However, once the hype died down, some unsubscribed and he dropped below 15 million again. See the video here:
View this post on Instagram
A good outing at the India vs Bangladesh 2nd Test in September earned Gill praise from experts Aakash Chopra and Ravi Ashwin, which added to his fame. His audience exceeded the 15 million mark for the second time. By the end of the year, Gill received 2.84 million new followers with a total growth rate of 18.9%.
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3. Rishabh Pant
At the start of the year 2024, Rishabh Pant had 9.8 million followers on Instagram. In Feb 2024, he gave a long interview about the serious accident that the then Delhi Capitals captain and India wicket-keeper got involved in during December 2022. He miraculously escaped from a car engulfed in flames. Due to severe injuries, his career was in great doubt. In the interview, Pant mentioned his recovery and announced his imminent return. Audiences responded with a flood of new followers, soon overcoming the 10-million mark.
After a year of inactivity, Pant performed well in almost every game after making his comeback, delighting his fans and attracting new ones too. There were some infractions too; first, he was fined for violating IPL’s Code of Conduct against Chennai Super Kings, then suspended for one match for another breach against Rajasthan Royals. As a result, Pant missed the all-important clash with Bangalore.
These other scandals didn’t cause a fan outflow, but the winning ball in the India vs Bangladesh 2nd Test allowed him to attract 60,000+ new followers in just one day! As of 16 October, Pant had 3.87 million new fans since the beginning of the year, which is 28.2% of relative growth, which is excellent for a player with a year-long career break.
4. Ishan Kishan
At the start of 2024, Ishan Kishan had 5.9 million followers on Instagram, and by October 2024 – 7.2 million. By the end of the year, he had attracted 1.33 million new fans (+18% growth); however, he saw a 4 million followers increase in the year 2023. The decline in interest is maybe because of his sudden unplanned vacation.
First, he refused to participate in the Afghanistan tour of India. Then, he left the tour of South Africa, citing psychological fatigue and a desire to take a break. As a result, he lost his BCCI central contract too, automatically taking off the cricketer from the list for international selection.
Ishan Kishan was tasked to play Domestic Cricket in 2024 and he has gotten Century in all tournaments
💯 In Buchi Babu Tournament
💯 In Duleep Trophy
💯 In Ranji Trophy
💯 In Vijay Hazare Trophy#ishankishan pic.twitter.com/0pGOEeorGs— Tingu Ishan 🧡 (@Ishan32Defender) January 1, 2025
Kishan played for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024 with varying success, receiving a fine for an IPL Code of Conduct violation in a match against Delhi. Fan discontent continued even with good performances in the Buchi Babu Trophy, Duleep Trophy, and Ranji Trophy tournaments to follow. Later in the year, disappointed with his actions, his audience dropped from 7.4 to lower than 7.3 million subscribers.
5. Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad had 3.3 million followers on Instagram at the start of 2024. By March, the player replaced the iconic MS Dhoni as captain of Chennai Super Kings for IPL 2024, which led to explosive growth in his followers. Over the next 4 months, his followers increased by 1.3 million (28.5%), exceeding 4.6 million fans on Instagram.
A confident start to his IPL 2024 campaign along with excellent performances for Team India during the Zimbabwe tour allowed Gaikwad to retain his core followers. Devoted fans fiercely criticized selectors for Gaikwad not being included in the T20I World Cup squad, as well as the tours against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Each time, it resulted in followers’ growth.
6. Yashasvi Jaiswal
22-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal is just starting his career but has the fastest followers increase among those on this list. At the start of 2024, he had only 2.3 million followers on Instagram, but it grew to more than 4 million (+42%) by end of October. Jaiswal plays for Rajasthan Royals in IPL. In the Zimbabwe T20I series, he set a new and unique world record by scoring 13 runs off the first ball.
And during Bangladesh Test, he became the first batsman in Test history to score more than 750 runs in his first 10 home Test innings. Several experts and former cricketers showered compliments on him, comparing him to greats of the game. With such a brilliant future, 4 million is the beginning of Jaiswal’s social media journey, and he will surely cross 10 million in the next year or so.
For similar cricketing updates from around the world, remember to always stay tuned to ReadScoops.com.
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