The 2025 Google search data from Pakistan has unveiled an unexpected leader in athlete popularity: India’s Abhishek Sharma. This standout performance surpasses the search interest typically generated by international stars like Virat Kohli and Pakistan’s own cricketing icon, Babar Azam. While cricket continues to dominate the sporting landscape and search queries in Pakistan, the individual search rankings have presented a fresh face at the very top.
Abhishek Sharma’s surge in popularity among Pakistani searchers is directly linked to his impactful performances during the recent Asia Cup encounters between India and Pakistan. His aggressive batting, particularly his confident approach against top Pakistani bowlers, including Shaheen Afridi, garnered significant attention. Sharma’s rapid scoring rate, highlighted by a remarkable 31 runs from just 13 deliveries in one match and a dominant 74 off 39 balls in another, made him a focal point for viewers and subsequently, search engines. Even though he scored few runs in the final, his earlier aggressive batting ensured his name was frequently searched.
The list of most searched athletes in Pakistan for 2025 sees Hassan Nawaz, Irfan Khan Niazi, and Sahibzada Farhan also feature prominently, albeit after Sharma. Intriguingly, the data indicates that neither India nor Pakistan listed their head-to-head matches as their top trending searches for the year. Pakistan’s focus was more on the series against South Africa, whereas India’s top search involved matches against England. Abhishek Sharma also ranked third in India’s Google searches, behind Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya, who were popular due to their IPL performances.