PV Sindhu, the 2016 Rio Olympic silver medallist, is now the most searched sports athlete in India, surpassing the likes of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, according to a survey published by Yahoo.
Sindhu, who made history this year by becoming the only Indian woman ever to reach the finals of the badminton event in Olympic games, added another feat to her name by topping the list. Apart from the many accolades she received, leapfrogging the great Sachin Tendulkar to be the most searched sportsperson in India would surely be her favorite.
Unsurprisingly, Dipa Karmakar stands second on the list behind Sidhu. The Agartala born Gymnast produced a brilliant performance in the Summer Games event finals but could only attain the 4th spot. Keeping records in mind, she is the first Indian woman ever to participate in Gymnastics in Olympics and is also the fifth woman ever to perform a ‘Produnova’ vault, considered as the death vault by many.
Following the wonder girls of India, comes the captain cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni on number three in the list. Needs no introduction, MS Dhoni surged into top three leaving India’s poster boy Virat Kohli at number fourth spot. Neeraj Pandey directed ‘MS Dhoni – The Untold Story’ helped his (Dhoni) name to take a leap in the chart for this year.
Unlike his popularity, Virat Kohli, the flamboyant batsman is fourth on the list. Be it his on-field heroics or off-field rumors, the Indian Tests captain knows how to make his presence felt in the media.
Standing tall at the fifth position is another woman medallist in Rio Olympics, Sakshi Malik. The wrestler who won the bronze medal was also the first Indian woman wrestler to make that far in the event at Olympics and fourth overall from India.
The only international player in the list, Lionel Messi has occupied the sixth position. The five-time Ballon d’Or is Argentina’s and Barcelona’s highest goal scorer in history. On seventh is the dope-tainted wrestler Narsingh Yadav, who made headlines following the allegations of him taking the drugs as his blood test result came out to be positive.
India’s batting legend Sachin Tendulkar was dropped to the number eight spot. Even after retiring from international cricket in 2014, the right-handed batsman has managed to find a place in the top ten.
On the number ninth and the tenth position are Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal.