The Indian Premier League (IPL), since its inception in 2008, has captured the imagination of the Indian public. Cricket has widened its audience in a big way in India after the T20 league was started with the shorter span of matches garnering the interest of many people.
Over the years, the IPL has not only been a success on the field – but with it being formed and played during the social media era – has received a lot of interest on the internet as well. Teams have tried to get the upper hand over each other on social media in a big way.
Speaking of social media, here are the top 5 IPL teams with most fans on Facebook:
NOTE:
- This list did not take into consideration the two suspended teams – Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals
- The numbers are as of 22 April 2016
#5 Sunrisers Hyderabad
Fans on Facebook – 3.53m
Sunrisers Hyderabad are a relatively new franchise, having been found only before the 2013 IPL. They have reached the playoffs only once since, but have managed to establish a strong fan following.
A lot of Deccan Chargers fans quite obviously moved to the Sunrisers once the former was disbanded. Canpaigns such as the #OrangeArmy on Twitter have helped the team from Hyderabad get a wider audience.
Sunrisers also have a strong backing from the cricket-crazy nation of Bangladesh this season with Mustafizur Rahman part of their squad.
#4 Kings XI Punjab
Fans on Facebook – 7.66m
Kings XI Punjab might have not had a lot of success over the years, but remain a favourite among the neutrals. Over the years, they’ve been a likeable outfit who haven’t found themselves part of many controversies.
Players like Glenn Maxwell and David Miller have helped the franchise build a big fan following over the last couple of years. The purchase of Virender Sehwag in 2014 also got a lot of fans on board.
The presense of Bollywood actress Priety Zinta as one of the owners has only helped in increasing the fan following for the Punjab-based franchise.
#3 Royal Challengers Bangalore
Fans on Facebook – 7.82m
The popularity of the team based in Bengaluru is hardly a surprise as they have some of the most loved cricketers playing in the league. Virat Kohli is currently the poster boy of Indian cricket and AB de Villiers has a good claim to be the most popular foreign cricketer to ever play in India.
They also have the likes of Chris Gayle and Shane Watson, who are very popular with Indian audiences.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium has been witness to some of the loudest crowds seen in the IPL, with chants of “RCB RCB” and “ABD ABD” becoming louder with every season. Their internet presence has been enchaced by videos by Mr. Nags (Danish Sait) and tweets with the hashtag #PlayBold.
Having never won the IPL before, the Bangalore-based franchise will be keen on proving critics wrong this season by going all the way.
#2 Mumbai Indians
Fans on Facebook – 10.12m
Having won the IPL and Champions League T20 (CLT20), Mumbai Indians are not only one of the most popular teams, but also a very successful one. Coming into the 2016 season as defending champions, they will be hoping to go ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as the team with the most IPL titles.
Sadly for the Mumbai-based franchise, they won’t be playing many matches at home this season because of the drought that has hit Maharashtra. This might harm support for them during matches, but their online support still remains strong.
A lot of their popularity can be attributed to the fact that they had Sachin Tendulkar, the most popular cricketer of all time, in their ranks for the first six seasons.
#1 Kolkata Knight Riders
Fans on Facebook – 13.27m
Over the years, Kolkata has been one of the biggest sporting cities in the country. It is perhaps the only big city in India where cricket is not guaranteed the status of being the number one sport with football being a crucial part of most of Kolkata’s households.
Despite that, Kolkata Knight Riders are the most supported team on Facebook. After some poor performances in the IPL in the initial years, many expected KKR’s fanbase to fall, especially considering the fact that they let go of local icon Sourav Ganguly as well.
But since then, they have won two IPL titles under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir and the fanbase has only increased.
The fact that they are owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan can also be attributed to why they have so many followers.
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