Virat Kohli beats Messi, Sachin and Dhoni to become Most Searched athlete on Google in 2015

Kohli is 2015’s most searched athlete in Google India

Virat Kohli topped the list of the most searched sportsperson on Google India in 2015. India’s Test skipper is just ahead of Lionel Messi in a top 10 dominated by Indians in the list released by Google on Wednesday.

The top spot shows Kohli’s marketability and caps off a mixed year for the right hander, who didn’t win any of his first four Tests as captain, before the 3-0 win over South Africa. Despite winning the treble with Barcelona, Messi had to settle for second spot behind India’s Test captain.

Despite reitiring from cricket, Sachin Tendulkar is in third place, thanks to his involvement in the Cricket All-Stars in November. The little maestro is followed by India’s ODI and T20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has come under plenty of criticism from pundits and fans alike for his captaincy in 2015.

Another possible reason, aside from his popularity is the fact that his side, Chennai Super Kings were suspended for two years from IPL earlier this year. Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo rounds off the top five.

Messi beats Ronaldo

While the debate of who among Messi or Ronaldo is the best footballer at the moment might continue to rage on, but at least in this list, the Argentine forward beat Ronaldo, who’s lowly position is likely due to the lack of trophies in 2015 and performance of his side.

Despite being in the twilight of his career, Roger Federer is still the highest-ranked tennis player in the list at no.6. India’s Sania Mirza, who is the only Indian non-cricketer in the list is in seventh place. Mirza has won two Grand Slam doubles titles in 2015 with her partner Martina Hingis and a total of nine titles overall in the calendar year.

She is followed two more Indian cricketers in Rohit Sharma, who recently got married, and Yuvraj Singh, who occupy the eighth and ninth spots ahead of world No.1 men’s tennis player, Novak Djokovic.

Both Rohit and Yuvraj have been in the news thanks to their relationship. While Rohit got married and has impressed for India in the limited overs, Yuvraj’s engagement with model-turned-actor Hazel Keech has kept him in the news, despite not playing for India.

Although no athlete was able to find a place in the top 10 most searched people in India, the fact that five of top 10 are Indian cricketers, only highlights the advantage the sport enjoys in the country.

Most Searched Sports person in Google India for 2015: Kohli Messi Sachin Dhoni Cristiano Federer Mirza Rohit Yuvi Novak

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) December 16, 2015