MUMBAI: Hansa Research’s IPLomania 2023 report has said that Shubman Gill, the Gujarat Titans’ opening batsman, has topped the ‘Emerging Cricketers Likeability’ list with 27 per cent of the study respondents choosing him to be the ‘most liked’ player during this season. Gill scored a cumulative of 890 runs over the course of 17 matches and also won the ‘Orange Cap’ of IPL 2023. Gill is followed by (in order) Matheesha Pathirana of Chennai Super Kings, Rinku Singh of Kolkata Knight Riders, and Yashasvi Jaiswal of Rajasthan Royals.
Some of the key factors that played a pivotal role leading to the ‘likeability’ spike include: consistency in performance, providing joy and entertainment to viewers, risk-taking ability among others. Interestingly, while 60% of respondents felt that Shubman Gill was ‘consistent with his performance’, 51% vouched for Rinku Singh’s ‘self-belief and risk-taking instincts’ during the matches, whereas 52% felt that Matheesha Pathirana ‘stepped just when the team needed him’, a media statement said.
At the same time, Shubman Gill rose stupendously in the Favourite Players Ranking from 69th in IPL 2022 to 5th this year while the Top 4 positions continue to be secured by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Hardik Pandya. Another significant growth to mention is Mumbai Indians’ Batsman Surya Kumar Yadav, who jumped to 6th spot this year in Most Favourite Player of IPL 2023 from 12th in IPL 2022.
Besides lifting this year’s IPL trophy and becoming the Most Favourite Player of IPL 2023, “Captain Cool” Mahendra Singh Dhoni added more feathers to his cap as he was announced Most Favourite Captain of the season, followed by Rohit Sharma of Mumbai Indians and Hardik Pandya of Gujarat Titans. Furthermore, Dhoni’s team garnered maximum audience support as well during this year’s IPL, with 29% of the IPL viewers supporting Chennai Super Kings (CSK), as against 16% support last year, the report added.
