ICC Men’s T20 World Cup garnered 55.9mn mentions, 461mn engagements: Report

Driven by outstanding player performances, new records, epic turnarounds, and nail-biting moments, the ICC Men’s Cricket T20 World Cup garnered unprecedented social media chatter. Interactive Avenues, a leading full-service digital agency and the digital arm of IPG Mediabrands India has released "Capturing the Glory: A Social Listening Report on #T20WorldCup", which sheds light on the digital conversation landscape surrounding the tournament and India’s victory.

The report, based on extensive data gathered from social platforms such as Twitter, Reddit, and popular cricket forums, reveals unique insights on player popularity, most appreciated performances, most talked about matches, top brand partnerships and more.

Key findings of the report:

Social chatter highlights:

• Overall, the tournament garnered 55.9 million mentions and drove 461 million engagements.
• Rohit Sharma emerged as the most talked about player and batsman (5.5 million mentions). Jasprit Bumrah was the most popular bowler (1.2 million mentions), and Hardik Pandya was the top all-rounder (1.1 million mentions).
• The finale between India and South Africa was the most talked about match (2.2 million mentions), followed by India vs. Pakistan (1.7 million mentions).

Most thrilling moments:

• Suryakumar Yadav's catch which clinched the T20 World Cup title for India got 209K mentions.
• Afghanistan beating Bangladesh in a low-scoring thriller to seal their semi-final spot drove 156K mentions.
• India’s victory against Pakistan by 6 runs in the low-scoring group stage match garnered 122K mentions.

Most popular players:

• Powered by consistent performances, India’s Rohit Sharma (5.5 million mentions), Virat Kohli (4.1 million mentions), Suryakumar Yadav (1.3 million mentions), Jasprit Bumrah (1.2 million mentions) and Hardik Pandya (1.1 million mentions) emerged as the most popular players on social media.

Top emerging players:

• Making their debut in a T20 World Cup, players from USA topped the popularity charts among emerging talent. Saurabh Netravalkar led the roster (163K mentions), followed by Ali Khan (67K mentions), Aaron Jones (49K mentions), and Monank Patel (30K mentions).

Top emotional moments:

• Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s ‘bromance’, including videos of their journey together, resulted in 7.1 million engagements.
• Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announcing their retirement from T20 international matches drove 4.1 million engagements.
• Rohit Sharma kissing Hardik Pandya in an emotional moment after India won the cup garnered 2.3 million engagements.

Biggest comeback story:

• After being booed at every match venue during IPL 2024 (92% negative mentions), Hardik Pandya made a spectacular comeback with 88% positive mentions during T20 World Cup 2024.

Top brand partnerships:

• Brands across diverse industries leveraged T20 CWC-based partnerships to drive engagement. Maruti got 258K mentions, Amul garnered 200K mentions, and ICICI Bank got 145K mentions.
• Nandini Milk witnessed a 390% increase in average monthly engagement, while BPCL’s “Snap The AD” contest drove a 191% spike in average monthly engagement.

Commenting on the report, Shantanu Sirohi, COO, Interactive Avenues, said, “The Cricket T20 World Cup has once again proven the unparalleled ability of cricket to captivate audiences. This tournament has set new benchmarks for player popularity, with stars like Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah leading the conversations. Our comprehensive social listening report not only highlights the staggering number of mentions and engagements, but also delves into the elements that drove these numbers.”