Royal Challengers Bangalore and Virat Kohli rule #CricketTwitter conversations this season

Twitter is the homeground for some of the most passionate real-time cricket conversations in the country, in fact, between January 2021 - January 2022, 4.4 million people on Twitter in India sent out 96.2 million Tweets about cricket. 

And as fans returned to stadiums this cricket season to experience their favourite sport, their cheers echoed loud and clear on Twitter too. While Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans), won the tournament trophy, Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) won on Twitter – becoming the most Tweeted about team of the season. The team’s former skipper, Virat Kohli (@imVKohli), also remained the talk of the timelines on the service -- becoming the most Tweeted about player of the season. 

To enhance the experience of cricket fans, Twitter experimented with several new features. An India only experiment, the Cricket Tab, served as a one-stop destination for all things cricket, and included a live scorecard to follow ball-by-ball updates. The Cricket Twitter Community gave fans an opportunity to share the thrill of the most gripping match moments with like-minded people. Twitter Communities let people find others who like to talk about the same things and connect with them over their shared interests. 

The service also curated exclusive #OnlyOnTwitter content such as #FanTweets with Shreyas Iyer (@ShreyasIyer15) and #GOATTweets with Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) to delight fans seeking off-field moments with their favourite athletes and commentators. Let’s take a look at what the season looked like on Twitter -

Most Tweeted about Teams

*Methodology: Identified based on the total number of Tweets from 26 March 2022 - 30 May 2022

Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) grabbed the top spot among most Tweeted about teams this season owing to their close calls in their quest to secure their first league trophy. Chennai Super Kings  (@ChennaiIPL), who’ve won the trophy four times and have been the winners on #CricketTwitter year after year, and five-time champions Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) grabbed the second and third spots respectively. They were followed by Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) and Kolkata Knight Riders (@KKRiders) - two other fan favourites that kept viewers on the edge of their seats and tuned to #CricketTwitter through the season.

1. Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets)
2. Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL)
3. Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan)
4. Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals)
5. Kolkata Knight Riders (@KKRiders

The Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans), who made ripples of conversation as they made it to the final and then won the trophy, stood sixth in line as the most Tweeted about teams on Twitter.

Most Tweeted about players

*Methodology: Identified based on the total number of Tweets from 26 March 2022 - 30 May 2022

Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) topped the list of most Tweeted about players. His undeterred spirit to bring the team their first title as well as his smashing comeback in a must-win match against Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) had fans lauding him throughout the season. MS Dhoni (@msdhoni) continued to make rounds across timelines all season long, especially exciting fans with his Dhoni-esque finisher against Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan). Mumbai Indians’ skipper Rohit Sharma (@imRo45) stands next on the list, followed by Ravindrasinh Jadeja (@imjadeja) who took over the CSK’s captaincy from MS Dhoni earlier in the season before being forced out of the league mid-season due to a rib injury. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s captain Faf du Plessis (@faf1307), who is fifth on the list of most Tweeted players, received attention and fans’ love for this commendable captaincy in one of the team’s finest seasons, as claimed by cricket watchers. 

1. Virat Kohli (@imVkohli)
2. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni)
3. Rohit Sharma (@imRo45)
4. Ravindrasinh Jadeja (@imjadeja)
5. Faf du Plessis (@faf1307)