Cricket has started garnering attention from all across the globe as the sport went global with the 2024 T20 World Cup, which the USA co-hosted. The introduction of cricket in the next 2027 LA Olympics has also helped the sport get the much-needed limelight in countries where it wasn’t very popular early on.
Qatar, which is not a non-Test playing nation, seems to have hit cricket fever as six of the top 10 most searched personalities on Google this year in the Middle Eastern nation were cricketers. Meanwhile, four of the six most searched cricketers in Qatar were Indian stars, and they were not Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya or Jasprit Bumrah – the four prominent players in world cricket at the moment.
It was Indian batter Sarfaraz Khan who topped the list of 2024 most searched personalities on Google in Qatar. The talented batter made his India debut earlier this year on an England tour after years of grinding in the domestic circuit. He grabbed the limelight with his 150-run knock against New Zealand in Bengaluru. The 27-year-old has played 6 Tests so far in India, in which he scored 371 runs at an average of 37.10.
Qatar’s second most searched cricketer was England all-rounder Will Jacks (5th on the overall list), who scored 202 runs in 12 T20Is this year. The English star also played 8 ODIs, scoring 192 runs, but it was through the Indian Premier League that he got the attention of the cricketing world. Playing for RCB in 2024, Jacks slammed a century and finished the season with 230 runs to his name. He was also one of the hottest overseas prospects during the IPL 2025 mega auction, where Mumbai Indians signed him for a whopping INR 5.25 crore.
Abhishek Sharma (6th) was the third most searched cricketer in the middle-east nation. The left-handed opener had a dream IPL season where he slammed 484 runs in 16 matches at an astonishing strike rate of 204.21. He also made his India debut this year in T20Is and scored a century in his second match. The 24-year-old has scored 256 runs in 12 T20Is so far in his career.
Ramandeep Singh (8th), who made his India debut on the South Africa tour, also made the list and was the eighth most searched personality in Qatar. The rookie all-rounder also grabbed the attention in IPL while playing for KKR who won their third title. Ramandeep was also retained by KKR for the next season.
Ashutosh Sharma, who made his IPL debut last season, was the 10th most searched personality in the nation. The 26-year-old was one of the finds of the season as he scored 189 runs while playing for Punjab Kings at a strike rate of 167.25. Meanwhile, he will play for Delhi Capitals next season.
USA batter Aaron Jones was the other player on the list—he was ninth overall. He had a decent showing in the 2024 T20 World Cup, scoring 162 runs at an average of 40.5.
