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No national cricketers but India’s Abhishek Sharma was the most-searched athlete in Pakistan in 2025.
Indian players rejoice after winning (Picture credit: AP)
India’s young opening batter Abhishek Sharma not only captured the minds of fans in India in 2025, but additionally managed to have a major impact on neighboring Pakistan.
In line with Google’s search trends for 2025, Abhishek was the most-searched athlete in Pakistan, getting much more volume of searches from the country than he did in India. He was followed by Pakistan cricketers Hassan Nawaz, Irfan Khan Niazi, Sahibzada Farhan, and Muhammad Abbas within the list.
Abhishek’s popularity likely stems from his performances against Pakistan within the 2025 Asia Cup. The left-hander made a cameo of 31 off 13 against them within the group stage, following it up with a 39-ball 74 within the Super-4 round — becoming a continuing threat in an Indian team that was struggling otherwise.
Faheem Ashraf managed to get him out cheaply in the ultimate, but India went on to win anyway.
Still, it was a yr where Abhishek truly announced himself to the world. In India, he was the third-most searched person. The highest-10 were all cricketers, with Bihar’s teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Delhi’s Priyansh Arya leading the pack.
Sooryavanshi made headlines within the IPL with an unexpected debut at 13 years of age. Soon, he became the youngest to attain a century within the format. Priyansh, meanwhile, was excellent for the Punjab Kings.
Two women’s cricketing stars were within the top-10: vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and the match-winner of the World Cup semi-final against Australia, Jemimah Rodrigues. Three uncapped players a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made it to the top-10 list: Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre, and Urvil Patel.
India returnee Karun Nair and Mumbai Indians’ Vignesh Puthur rounded the list off.
Meanwhile, the ‘overall’ top searches in India were hogged by the IPL, while 4 of the five most searched sports tournaments were also in cricket, with the Pro Kabaddi League taking the fifth spot.
Click here so as to add News18 as your selected news source on Google. December 08, 2025, 17:56 IST
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