Abhishek Sharma’s journey in 2025 seemed to unfold like a story everyone wanted to follow. The young Indian opener, already known for his fearless strokeplay, suddenly became a name people couldn’t stop typing into search bars. His rise wasn’t limited to admiration at home but spilled across borders, drawing remarkable attention from fans in Pakistan as well.
Google’s search trends for the year revealed a surprising highlight — Abhishek Sharma was Pakistan’s most searched athlete of 2025, attracting even more searches there than in India.
He topped the list ahead of Pakistan’s own Hassan Nawaz, Irfan Khan Niazi, Sahibzada Farhan and Muhammad Abbas. Much of this interest stemmed from his bold performances against Pakistan during the Asia Cup, where he produced a quick 31 off just 13 balls in the group match and then hammered a 74 from 39 deliveries in the Super Four stage. Even though he fell cheaply to Faheem Ashraf in the final, India lifted the trophy and Abhishek had already established himself as a major threat in a team that otherwise struggled for fluency.
Back home, his popularity was just as evident. He finished as the third most searched person in India for the year, in a list dominated entirely by cricketers. Leading the pack were Bihar’s teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who stunned everyone by debuting in the IPL at 13 and later becoming the youngest centurion in the tournament, and Delhi’s Priyansh Arya, who excelled for Punjab Kings.
Women’s cricket also shone brightly in the search charts. Indian women cricketers Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues, whose match-winning brilliance in the World Cup semifinal against Australia captivated the nation, were both among the top ten. Interestingly, three uncapped Chennai Super Kings players — Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre and Urvil Patel — earned their place in the rankings as well, showing how deeply fan curiosity runs in India’s cricket culture. The list was rounded off by India’s senior cricketer Karun Nair and Mumbai Indians’ talent Vignesh Puthur.
Beyond individual players, the country’s overall search patterns made one thing clear — India remained firmly hooked to cricket. The IPL dominated as the most searched topic nationwide and four of the five most searched sporting events were also cricket tournaments, with only the Pro Kabaddi League breaking into the mix.
