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Most popular cricketer ever?

Buffet said:
Influential yes, but I am not too sure about being popular to be honest. Not many people outside is going to know the name of politicians from Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, SL, BD etc. So it will be pretty much being popular in their own countries due to politics.

Based on discussions, I would have expected IK to be near SRT in twitter followings, but he has less than one third of SRT/Kohli. Yes, internet users are more in India than Pakistan and I think that explains this huge gap. But that's what popularity means to be honest. All eyeballs are counted equally. Wasim only as cricketer has 4-5M twitter followings. So IK is pulling just 2-3M extra than Wasim despite being PM of country with population of 200M+.
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You are overstating the significance of number of followers on twitter. Not everyone who knows IK will follow him on twitter. I am sure people in India and China know about IK, the two biggest countries in the world, but of course not everyone who knows him in India China. etc. is going to follow him on twitter. In fact I think twitter is banned in China, so hardly any Chinese followers.
 
If only cricketing career is count, it will definitely be Sachin. Imran after becoming a prime minister is definitely more popular than anybody else
 
szrana said:
You are overstating the significance of number of followers on twitter. Not everyone who knows IK will follow him on twitter. I am sure people in India and China know about IK, the two biggest countries in the world, but of course not everyone who knows him in India China. etc. is going to follow him on twitter. In fact I think twitter is banned in China, so hardly any Chinese followers.
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I think we are thinking popular differently. Definition of popular. : liked or enjoyed by many people


Osama Bin Laden is well known name in US, but I won't call him popular. So knowing about some one is one thing, and taking time to follow the person is another. Average Chinese is very less likely to know about politicians of other countries, but cricket is followed widely in India so I am sure that IK's name will be very well known in India. Hundred of millions of Indians will know his name. But knowing name is not the same as being popular. If you are popular then fans will follow you and that will result in fans followings in Twitter, Facebook etc.

Twitter and Facebook is going to cover a smaller portion of fan base because internet penetration is not that high in developing countries and also not everyone is present in social media despite having internet. But trend in social media can tell us something about over all popularity of cricketers. I do admit that it can be faulty due to smaller sample size, but I like to see factual numbers. Having said that, sample size is in tens of millions here so not that small to draw a conclusion about the wider trend.
 
Imran Khan Won the ICC Poll for "Pace Setters". Very very close Context, Imran Khan got 47% and Virat Kohli 46% votes. Over 5 Lakhs people voted in the ICC Twitter Handle.
 
Abdullah Rabbani said:
Imran Khan Won the ICC Poll for "Pace Setters". Very very close Context, Imran Khan got 47% and Virat Kohli 46% votes. Over 5 Lakhs people voted in the ICC Twitter Handle.
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It was a poll on captaincy.

Both of them are well below Tendulkar, Bradman and Richards in terms of reverence
 
Bradman and Tendulkar, hands down, the two biggest box office draws in Cricket history. Between the two, it's whatever you prefer but is is quite true that these two belong in a different planet as far as any debate on cricketing aura, popularity is concerned.
 
Statchin.

And the reasoning is he’s the best all-around post WWII batsman and happens to be from the largest demographic that watches cricket.

I’m not afraid to say that if Sir Viv was from IND, he would be a bigger star than Sachin.
 
Dhoni in last 10 years.
He has cult fan base.
Still his brand value is greater than many other current stars like Rohit.
 
ManFan said:
Statchin.

And the reasoning is he’s the best all-around post WWII batsman and happens to be from the largest demographic that watches cricket.

I’m not afraid to say that if Sir Viv was from IND, he would be a bigger star than Sachin.
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If Viv was born in India, he would simply be Sachin of India. I wil go a step ahead and claim Sachin would still be this God like figure if he was born in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or NZ.

Sachin's all that but his greatest strength has always been his humility. No cricketer except Bradman has been this madly followed. He was the first cricketer who genuinely made serious money and he never let any of that get to his head. That has always elevated him beyond regular mortals in the eyes of public.
 
Imran or Sachin.

Imran was a huge worldwide star who wasn't just a cricket star, but was a "crossover" star who attracted casual fans & press gallery world headlines. Kohli doesn't quite have that star power on a daily basis in Oz or England where who they date, or what they do outside of cricket is reported on so much. Imrans cancer hospital, oxford background, good looks, the intelligent way he spoke compared to many sportsmen & talent for cricket & achievements in other fields that just continued to grow until he was the President of 200m people is probably a different level.

Kohli or Stokes or Archer or whoever might be a really big deal at home but overseas they are just a cricket player really- just one of many sports stars in countries that follow 3 or 4 sports but they don't really go beyond the boundary.
 
RainMan_ said:
Half of the world's population leave in India. So, obviously Indian players will come out as the most popular ones.

Sachin is undoubtedly the most popular player.
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Where you came up with this statement "half of the world's population lives in India " the last time I checked world population was 7.8 billion & India's population was 1.36 billion.
 
Surprised no one has mentioned Praveen Kumar. I really miss his medium pace bowling.
 
With all due respect, Imran wasn't even the most popular cricketer of his era. Viv Richards remained the biggest draw in cricket during the whole time by far. To supercede Viv and declare Imran most popular ahead of Sachin is quite ironic.


Not that popularity and hype makes a player better. Gavaskar is in my opinion a bigger cricketer than both Viv and Imran but he was never , or was never going to be all that hype.
 
freelance_cricketer said:
With all due respect, Imran wasn't even the most popular cricketer of his era. Viv Richards remained the biggest draw in cricket during the whole time by far. To supercede Viv and declare Imran most popular ahead of Sachin is quite ironic.


Not that popularity and hype makes a player better. Gavaskar is in my opinion a bigger cricketer than both Viv and Imran but he was never , or was never going to be all that hype.
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LOL only continents heard of Gavasker. Viv was most popular in England and Australia. Whereas Imran worldwide and in big country in India more than Viv. Imran was popular not just for cricket achievements but also his other work including free cancer hospital, cases with Botham and Lamb, neutral umpires, debate on ball tampering, winning a world Cup with a modest team, good looks and playboy image earlier on, and of course his battles in politics to eventually becoming prime minister. As a cricketer he was not just a superb bowler who often fought battles alone for Pakistan but a very reliable batsman, sound fielder, fitness freak and of course a commanding captain with total control. He has now also been voted as the best captain.
 
Most popular in the cricket fraternity or outside of it?

Imran Khan was quite a socialite in his playing days with his affairs with the high-party circuit in London getting a lot of publicity. Not sure it made him popular but he was pretty well known outside of the cricketing community. Of course, now as a PM he is known worldwide.

So outside of the cricketing community, IK gets my vote.

Within the cricketing community, SRT wins hands down.
 
PakPremi said:
LOL only continents heard of Gavasker. Viv was most popular in England and Australia. Whereas Imran worldwide and in big country in India more than Viv. Imran was popular not just for cricket achievements but also his other work including free cancer hospital, cases with Botham and Lamb, neutral umpires, debate on ball tampering, winning a world Cup with a modest team, good looks and playboy image earlier on, and of course his battles in politics to eventually becoming prime minister. As a cricketer he was not just a superb bowler who often fought battles alone for Pakistan but a very reliable batsman, sound fielder, fitness freak and of course a commanding captain with total control. He has now also been voted as the best captain.
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👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
 
PakPremi said:
LOL only continents heard of Gavasker. Viv was most popular in England and Australia. Whereas Imran worldwide and in big country in India more than Viv. Imran was popular not just for cricket achievements but also his other work including free cancer hospital, cases with Botham and Lamb, neutral umpires, debate on ball tampering, winning a world Cup with a modest team, good looks and playboy image earlier on, and of course his battles in politics to eventually becoming prime minister. As a cricketer he was not just a superb bowler who often fought battles alone for Pakistan but a very reliable batsman, sound fielder, fitness freak and of course a commanding captain with total control. He has now also been voted as the best captain.
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Met an old Spanish lady once, she didn't have any idea what cricket was but she knew very well about Jemima and Imran Khan marriage :yk
 
So according to several posts here, a significant chunk of Imran Khan's popularity was thanks to his ex-wife.

That's fair enough. I guess it's like Anushka Sharma whose popularity increased after she married Virat Kohli :rabada2
 
There's a video on youtube, where more than half of the current aussie players weren't able to tell who Imran is.
There isn't a cricketer or cricket fan on earth who doesn't know SRT.
 
jeeteshssaxena said:
There's a video on youtube, where more than half of the current aussie players weren't able to tell who Imran is.
There isn't a cricketer or cricket fan on earth who doesn't know SRT.
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They asked the Aussie players about who the PM of Pakistan was, not who is Imran Khan. I am sure every Aussie cricketer knows about IK. IK is a well known name in Aus anyway.
 
Of the countries where cricket is played (around 2,000 men) India has around 70% population, therefore any given time top Indian players will be most popular.

It should be based on second country vote - that how popular a player is out side in this own country. In that regard, I think the most popular three players (not in order) were Sir Gary, Sir Viv & Imran. Tendulkar, Wasim & Botham will come close as well because Tendulkar had a massive following in PAK & BD while both Was & Both were popular in India.

Sir Gary was universally the most popular global cricketer - first of its kind. He had a film star like followings the South Asia, Australia & UK. Imran was probably more popular in India than any Indian start of his time!!!! I read a story that a group of people (150+) chartered few busses to see Imran playing in Mumbai or Calcutta (Kolkata) from remote places. Viv as well was extremely popular in India, UK, Australia.
 
I receht times, we have to take into account AB DeVilliers as well. Dude was extremely popular in India and crowds used to cheer for him even when he was playing against India and using the 2nd country criteria he was probably the most popular cricketer of the last decade

Not sure why we have to go back to the 80's to se the who the most popular cricketer was.
 
ChTab said:
Where you came up with this statement "half of the world's population lives in India " the last time I checked world population was 7.8 billion & India's population was 1.36 billion.
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May be he meant half of cricket playing world’s

Tho ij that case it’s more than half probably
 
If we go purely by cricketing popularity , it has to be Sachin Tendulkar. He is a big brand and countries around world respect him and many young cricketers of other countries consider him as their favourite cricketer growing up. I am not sure what else you need.
 
jeeteshssaxena said:
There's a video on youtube, where more than half of the current aussie players weren't able to tell who Imran is.
There isn't a cricketer or cricket fan on earth who doesn't know SRT.
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Not debating about who is the most popular, but one thing is sure, you telling false things is going on for ever!
 
Revolution said:
Extract from below article ..

Think Michael Jordan, but bigger. Think Wayne Gretzky, but more adored. Think Pele, but possibly more revered. Combine them into a single athlete and you might begin to capture the adoration Indians have for cricket star Sachin Tendulkar.

https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/se...he-most-popular-athlete-you-ve-never-heard-of
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The late Peter Roebuck told a story of being on a train between Shimla and Delhi which stopped at a station simply because Tendulkar was on 98. "Everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century. This genius can stop time in India!"

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2013/oct/10/sachin-tendulkar-india-batsman-retirement
 
szrana007 said:
They asked the Aussie players about who the PM of Pakistan was, not who is Imran Khan. I am sure every Aussie cricketer knows about IK. IK is a well known name in Aus anyway.
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Mobashir said:
Not debating about who is the most popular, but one thing is sure, you telling false things is going on for ever!
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So you are telling me that they knew Imran khan but didn't know that he is Pakistan's PM. Are u kidding me?

If you watch that video you will yourself realise that some of them did't even know Imran. Some of them knew that a cricketer is Pakistan's PM but still weren't able to identify him.
Actually even in India Wasim Akram was much more popular before IK became PM.
 
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

It's another thing that some indian fans(especially IPL fans) these days do not respect him much and try to compare Sachin with any tom, dick and harry they can find. :inti
 
Sachin is an Immortal figure.

What are the first few questions anyone will ask when they start following cricket?
1.Which cricketer has scored the most runs. There you go.
2.Most centuries. Yet again...

Similarly Bradman is immortal bcoz of that freaky average
 
jeeteshssaxena said:
So you are telling me that they knew Imran khan but didn't know that he is Pakistan's PM. Are u kidding me?

If you watch that video you will yourself realise that some of them did't even know Imran. Some of them knew that a cricketer is Pakistan's PM but still weren't able to identify him.
Actually even in India Wasim Akram was much more popular before IK became PM.
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Do you think everyone in the world knows who Pakistan's PM is? lol. The question that was asked to the Aussie players was that who is Pakistan's PM and not everyone will know that. Heck most of them didn't even knew that Jacinda Ardern is the PM of New Zealand, which is their neighboring country. Still more of them knew that IK is Pak's PM, but you don't expect every player in the world to know who Pak's PM is.

Secondly hardly anyone outside the cricketing community knows Sachin. Just ask Sharapova,lol. IK is known here in Finland too, where nobody knows about cricket.
 
szrana007 said:
Secondly hardly anyone outside the cricketing community knows Sachin. Just ask Sharapova,lol. IK is known here in Finland too, where nobody knows about cricket.
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Thanks for reminding the Maria incident.

Fans around the globed trolled her with memes starting from A to Z.

After that incident Maria Sharapova writes to BCCI; apologises for not knowing Sachin Tendulkar.

Many Sachin fans didn't know know her.. she is famous tennis player but trolled her continuously.
 
It maybe Kohli, yet it is definitely going to Kohli.

How can you talk about popularity and not talk about social media? He is most followed cricketer on IG, has Bollywood WAG. Thus, even post-retirement, he will be in the news, marketing, and fame.
 
jeeteshssaxena said:
Sachin is an Immortal figure.

What are the first few questions anyone will ask when they start following cricket?
1.Which cricketer has scored the most runs. There you go.
2.Most centuries. Yet again...

Similarly Bradman is immortal bcoz of that freaky average
Click to expand...

Someone will some day eclipse Tendulkar in runs and centuries too but to reduce Tendulkar to his numbers alone would be huge unjustice to the game's greatest box office attraction post Bradman.
 
Revolution said:
Thanks for reminding the Maria incident.

Fans around the globed trolled her with memes starting from A to Z.

After that incident Maria Sharapova writes to BCCI; apologises for not knowing Sachin Tendulkar.

Many Sachin fans didn't know know her.. she is famous tennis player but trolled her continuously.
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Did She really apologized to the BCCI for not knowing Sachin? I mean why apologize for something that is not your fault at all.
 
Bhaag Viru Bhaag said:
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

It's another thing that some indian fans(especially IPL fans) these days do not respect him much and try to compare Sachin with any tom, dick and harry they can find. :inti
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As far as I remember only Rohit and Prudhvi compared with Sachin at their early stage.
 
Popularity is also function of cricket's standing in ur country

In the 1930s & 40s , cricket was as popular as football in UK. No wonder Bradman was most iconic sportsman in UK at that time. In 1948 ,Bradman was described as the most popular figure in Britain after Mr. Churchill !

Even in 80s , Botham, Viv & Imran were household names in England - 1 big reason bein cricket was still broadcast on BBC

But in last 20 years , cricket's popularity in England nosedived after move to pay TV. Forget Tendulkar & Kohli, even Ben Stokes is little known outside cricket followers in Britain right now !
 
Debatable who is the greatest cricketer but as a man of the people Sachin has proven to be not fit enough to tie Imran Khan's shoe laces after his Pro- Modi tweet against the farmers.

Yes, you read it right.

It's a paradigm shift coming from a self proclaimed one of the biggest Sachinists.

If Sachin Tendulkar or any of his family members / friends are reading this, I want you to know that Sachin is no more the people's man after turning his back on the farmers. He's just an establishment guy, and nothing more.Imran is a leader and an outspoken humanist. It's better you stayed quiet like you have always done rather than finally expressing after ages but sadly for the fascist govt against the people. Shame on you Sachin.

In the war between the establishment and the people, Sachin may have opted to bat for the establishment but i will always bat for the people and never compromise on my parents given values of justice and humanity.
 
freelance_cricketer said:
In the war between the establishment and the people, Sachin may have opted to bat for the establishment but i will always bat for the people and never compromise on my parents given values of justice and humanity.
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Yes. Please don't ever compromise on the principles you maintain here :smith
 
Outside cricket circles, how can anyone argue that Sachin is a very well known person. Firstly, he retired a while ago now so a lot of the younger people who don’t have an interest in cricket, may had heard of him somehow before, will not know of him now and in the coming years.
Imran Khan was very well known in many countries among people who don’t follow cricket a lot due to him being a socialite and of course the cancer research hospital. Now that he’s PM, he’s obviously the most well known person to have ever played cricket.
Currently, Kohli is easily the most well recognized current cricketer in the world right now due to massive sponsorship deals with major brands around the world.
 
I feel Ravi Ashwin based upon his comments about Pakistani cricketers is gaining popularity across the border as well
 
1800s - WG Grace
1910s - Monty Noble
1920s- Jack Hobbs
1930-1960s- Dob Bradman
1960-1970s- Garfield Sobers
1980s- Viv Richards
1990-2010s- Sachin Tendulkar
2010s- today- Virat Kohli
 
I don't know about "popular" but I think that Imran Khan is probably the most well-known (former) cricketer on earth, due to his crossover between sports, being a socialite dating famous women, and becoming prime minister of Pakistan. I just think it's pretty much a no contest. Does anyone in America or China know who Sachin is for example (aside from cricket followers and related diaspora)? Don't think so.
 
During my lifetime, I think most popular cricketers are/were Imran Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Shahid Afridi, Virat Kohli, and Wasim Akram.

Babar Azam is also getting there.
 
I think based on popularity Shoaib Akhtar gets an honourable mention, fastest bowler ever, and everyone knew of him during his playing days and even now. A cult figure you could say,
 
Nado_ said:
I think based on popularity Shoaib Akhtar gets an honourable mention, fastest bowler ever, and everyone knew of him during his playing days and even now. A cult figure you could say,
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Forgot to add Shoaib Akhtar. Yeah. He should definitely make the list.
 
Surely it would be Sachin Tendulkar?

From an England perspective — Andrew Flintoff.
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Someone will some day eclipse Tendulkar in runs and centuries too but to reduce Tendulkar to his numbers alone would be huge unjustice to the game's greatest box office attraction post Bradman.
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We can argue about the best ever.

But most popular ever- got to be Sachin. Beloved by a nation of a billion who watched him grow up from a literal boy to a legend on the field...

Had fans all over the world too, since we saw him play. I remember Merv Hughes, in his quickest era completely flummoxed at not being able to bully a teenage Tendulkar at Perth. Then 20 years later he's playing uppercuts on oz tours so late they literally took breath away. Great player. I can't see how anyone would be more popular, data or numbers wise.
 
Australian perspective...

Nominees are Lillee, Warne, Gilchrist.

Warney might win easily if the qyestion was "which cricketer did you most like to watch"- but his off field behaviour (the pathetic grudge v Starc being a prime example of a million others) probably leaves him out.

Gilchrist- heaps of "true" cricket fans hold him the dearest + he crosses the line into casual/non fans who just know his attitude & reputation for fairness (walking).

Lillee- probably a tie with Gilly. Clear winner pre Gilly. Still the archetype fast bowler- cross McGraths skills with Johnsons aggression... Still the subject of some legendary stories in the 00s (bumping into a rugny legend in a bar & heading out to the alley for rugby legend to face Dennis with tennis ball, using ripped off fence paling... Crowd is tense- is Lillee too old to deliver? Will rugby legend get killed? Dennis marks out the longest run possible in the alley... Is about to run in- pauses, crowd groans... until Lillee stops, undoes the top 5 buttons of his shirt, flicks the imaginary sweat & steams in... Crowd roars... Rugby legend never even saw the ball)...

Honourable mentions- McGrath, S Waugh, Border, Booney
 
Gilly would be top of the Aussies for me.

An incredible cricketer and by all accounts an absolute class act as a human being also.
 
Sachin and Imran khan. No one even comes close, these both individuals were the face of world Cricket.
In the modern era, MSD and Virat are the most popular cricketers but still, they won't be able to surpass the popularity of Sachin and Imran.
 
Pakistan captain, Babar Azam, has been featured in the sports section of an Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) textbook of grade eight.

Pakistan cricket fans are ecstatic as the image of Babar alongside India’s most famous cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni circulates on social media.

In the book, the question based on nicknames of cricketers reads, “Cricket is the most loved game in India and the cricketers are celebrities. Do you know the nicknames of your favourite cricketers?”

The question asked the students to match the cricketers with their respective nicknames.

Babar’s nickname ‘Bobby’ is also mentioned among the answers.

FskpN72X0AQ_Jvj
 
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