IPL 2018 - The second-most Google-searched sporting event

FIFA World Cup pipped the IPL to top the list.

Published - 01 Jan 2019, 11:56 IST | Updated - 01 Jan 2019, 11:56 IST

2 Min Read

The people of India are known for their love for sports, especially cricket. Cricketers in this country are worshipped as demigods, especially those who rule on the international stage. Starting from 1983 when India won their first World Cup in cricket, the nation has added one after another feather to its crown and the endless instances of success have made the sport all the popular in the country.

Nowadays, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has emerged a major summertime cricket engagement for the Indians and there is simply no slide in its popularity even after a decade.

The year 2018 also saw the staging of the IPL and it was a special edition for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the tournament’s most consistent team returned after two years of suspension and it went on to produce another magic and won their third title under MS Dhoni, the evergreen cricketer. However, it was not the IPL that finished best in the list of the most searched sporting event in India in 2018.

The tournament that eclipsed the IPL as the most searched event on Google in the just-concluded year was the FIFA World Cup according to the Times Now. The quadrennial tournament was played in Russia last year and featured 32 nations of which France emerged as the best. Les Bleus won their second world title beating a spirited Croatia 4-2 in the final held in Moscow on July 15. The presence of some of the world’s best talents in the football ‘world war’ made it the most followed sporting event of the year.

The 2018 edition of the football World Cup saw top teams like Germany, Spain, Argentina, Portugal and Brazil failing to make the semi-finals while the likes of Croatia and Belgium stunned the world with their skills. South Korea too pulled a massive surprise in the tournament humbling defending champions Germany 2-0 in the group stage.

IPL had more digital viewers

Official broadcasters of the Fifa World Cup in India claimed that the 2018 edition recorded over 70 million digital viewers that were much less compared to the 202 million viewers that the IPL had. However, it was the football World Cup which had the last laugh when it came to the Indian sport buffs showing their preferences on the Internet space. While IPL 2018 was the most searched keyword in the list of the top 10 sporting events, it finished third on the overall list of the most-searched keywords in India with the term ‘live scores’ finishing second.