The year 2024 was a fascinating one for cricket enthusiasts as they witnessed some exhilarating action over the past 12 months. Fans were not just happy to see their favourite players scoring runs and taking wickets on the field but they were also willing to know more about them by scrolling through their social media platforms.

As a result, they often resorted to searching their names on the most popular search engine, Google. Now usually top cricket stars like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma mostly enjoy a large fan following and in the process take the top spots among the most googled cricketers during the year. However, surprisingly, some other Indian cricket stars broke into the popularity charts and surpassed them to leave fans in awe of getting the most searches against their names. CricTracker lists the top three most searched cricketers on Google in the calendar year 2024.

Top 3 most searched cricketers on Google in 2024:

3. Abhishek Sharma

Abhishek Sharma had a memorable 2024 as he made a mark with the bat for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and went on to make his debut in the T20I format for India. During the IPL, he amassed 484 runs from 16 matches at a commendable average of 32.27 and an awe-inspiring strike rate of 204.22.

He started his India career with a four-ball duck in his first T20I against Zimbabwe. However, he went on to score a phenomenal century in the second T20I to showcase his talent on the international stage. The southpaw has played 12 T20Is so far for the Men in Blue and scored 256 runs at an average of 23.27 and a strike rate of 171.81.

2. Shashank Singh

Shashank Singh was roped in by Punjab Kings in the IPL 2024 mini-auction. Initially ridiculed as a mistaken purchase by the Punjab-based franchise, Singh went on to prove his mettle by playing some match-winning knocks during the season.

The right-handed batter finished with 354 runs from 14 matches at an average of 44.25 and a strike rate of 164.65. He smashed two half-centuries during the season. While Punjab finished second from the bottom, Shashank managed to turn heads with his consistent performances. He has been retained by the Kings for IPL 2025 as an uncapped player for INR 5.50 crore.

1. Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya had a topsy-turvy year, where he had to deal with success as well as failure. Thankfully for him, he could turn failure into success in quick time. The Baroda all-rounder returned to Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024 and subsequently replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain. This irked fans as they felt that the franchise didn't show much respect to Rohit, who led them to five titles. Hardik was brutally trolled and he failed to perform with bat and ball during the cash-rich league. Mumbai Indians finished last on the points table to add to the woes of the Choryasi-born.

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However, the 31-year-old managed to turn things around for himself by putting in a stellar shift during India's T20 World Cup-winning campaign. Hardik made vital contributions with bat and ball and helped India end their ICC title drought after an agonising wait of 11 years.