As the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League, the world’s biggest cricket franchise league, approaches, we look at which players and the teams have the most popularity among the crazy diehard fans.
A study by IPLomania reveals some interesting facts about the popularity of players and teams in the IPL.
So who is the most popular player in the IPL?
- Rohit Sharma
It’s none other than Rohit Sharma, the 5-time IPL winning captain of Mumbai Indians. Rohit was given the captaincy mid-season in 2013 when, under Ricky Ponting, MI had a poor start to the tournament. Sharma changed the fortunes of the franchise, by taking them to their first IPL title that year. He won four more titles after that for MI.
2. Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is the second-most popular player in the IPL according to the report. While Kohli has become the leading run-scorer in the history of Indian Premier League – with 6283 runs – he failed to win even a single title for RCB, having captained the side from 2013 and finally relinquishing the duties at the end of last season. Kohli batted in God-mode in 2016, smashing 973 runs, with four hundreds and 7 fifties.
3. MS Dhoni
Known for his cool demeanour and arguably the best white-ball captain the world has ever seen, MS Dhoni has led Chennai Super Kings to four Indian Premier League titles, and in CSK missed the playoffs only once.
Despite batting mostly in the middle-order and lower, Dhoni has amassed 4746 runs in the IPL at 39.
Now, moving on from players to teams. Which has been the most popular team in the IPL?
1.Chennai Super Kings
The four-time champions, Chennai Super Kings, have been the most consistent unit in the IPL history, with qualifying for all but one season in which they participated. CSK had to miss two seasons when they were suspended.
CSK are with no surprise the most popular franchise in the Indian Premier League. Their fanbase only increased when they returned from the 2-year ban.
2.Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians are the most successful franchise in tournament’s history, with 5 titles under their belt. They won their first IPL trophy in 2013. They repeated the same feat in 2015. Two years later in 2017, and two years after that in 2019 also.
Mumbai broke the even-year jinx when they rumbled to the IPL 2020 title. The 2020 Mumbai Indians team is regarded as the best T20 team of all time in franchise cricket.
3.Royal Challengers Bangalore
Unlike Mumbai and Chennai, RCB have never won the IPL trophy. They did though reach the final thrice but failed to clear the final hurdle. However, their fanbase remains huge and strong, with Kohli and AB de Villiers being the key attractions.
