Have you ever wondered what truly captures the heart and soul of India? Is it the heart-pounding excitement of Cricket, where it is not just a game but a nationwide festivity that unites millions in a shared thrill? Or is it the magical world of Bollywood, where stories are not just told but lived, influencing fashion, language, and even our dreams? Indians wear their hearts on their sleeves, and nowhere is this more evident than in their undying love for Cricket and Bollywood.

Now, imagine what happens when these two go head-to-head. Who shall win? Glamour or runs? Who’s the real champion in the people’s hearts? For this, the team of ‘Crpati News’ took a deep dive into the fan following to see who won the crown of popularity. They have very carefully analyzed the number of social media followers on Instagram and Facebook of our all-time favorite 25 cricketers and Bollywood stars each.

Here’s a complete list of our stars and their social media followership:

S.No	Name	Category	Instagram	Facebook	Total
1	Virat Kohli	Cricketer	268 M	51 M	319 M
2	Priyanka Chopra	Actor	91 M	55 M	146 M
3	Shraddha Kapoor	Actor	89.0 M	40 M	129 M
4	Deepika Padukone	Actor	79.1 M	48 M	127.1 M
5	Salman Khan	Actor	69.2 M	51 M	120.2 M
6	Akshay Kumar	Actor	68.2 M	50 M	118.2 M
7	Katrina Kaif	Actor	80.1M	34 M	114.1 M
8	Alia Bhatt	Actor	84.2 M	8.6 M	92.8 M
9	Shah Rukh Khan (SRK)	Actor	46.6 M	43 M	89.9 M
10	Anushka Sharma	Actor	67.4 M	17 M	84.4 M
11	Hrithik Roshan	Actor	47.6 M	29 M	76.6 M
12	Amitabh Bachchan	Actor	37.5 M	38 M	75.5 M
13	MS Dhoni	Cricketer	47.6 M	27 M	74.6 M
14	Shahid Kapoor	Actor	46.8 M	23 M	69.8 M
15	Tiger Shroff	Actor	39.9 M	27 M	66.9 M
16	Ranveer Singh	Actor	47.2 M	15 M	62.2 M
17	Varun Dhawan	Actor	46.8 M	12 M	58.8 M
18	Rohit Sharma	Cricketer	37.8 M	20 M	57.8 M
19	Kartik Aaryan	Actor	37.7 M	4.6 M	42.3 M
20	Hardik Pandya	Cricketer	29.5 M	12 M	41.5 M
21	Ajay Devgn	Actor	11.8 M	25 M	36.8 M
22	Shikhar Dhawan	Cricketer	18.1 M	17 M	35.1 M
23	K L Rahul	Cricketer	19.8 M	10 M	29.8 M
24	Ayushmann Khurrana	Actor	17.9 M	7.9 M	25.8 M
25	Jasprit Bumrah	Cricketer	14.3 M	9.2 M	23.5 M
26	John Abraham	Actor	11.9 M	11 M	22.9 M
27	Mohammed Shami	Cricketer	14.3 M	5.2 M	19.5 M
28	Ravindra Jadeja	Cricketer	8.9 M	10 M	18.9 M
29	Kangana Ranaut	Actor	9.7 M	7.6 M	17.3 M
30	Vidya Balan	Actor	9.3 M	7.9 M	17.2 M
31	Shubman Gill	Cricketer	14.2 M	2.7 M	16.9 M
32	Rishabh Pant	Cricketer	10.9 M	5.5 M	16.4 M
33	Suryakumar Yadav	Cricketer	14.1 M	382k	14.5 M
34	Aishwarya Rai	Actor	13.8 M	NA	13.8 M
35	Shreyas Iyer	Cricketer	10.7 M	2.9 M	13.6 M
36	Kareena Kapoor	Actor	12.2 M	NA	12.2 M
37	Sanju Samson	Cricketer	9 M	3.1 M	12.1 M
38	Yuzvendra Chahal	Cricketer	9.5 M	1.2 M	10.7 M
39	Ishan Kishan	Cricketer	6.5 M	3.7 M	10.2 M
40	Mohammed Siraj	Cricketer	7.1 M	1.5 M	8.6 M
41	Rajkummar Rao	Actor	7 M	NA	7 M
42	Dinesh Karthik	Cricketer	3.1 M	1.4 M	4.5 M
43	Yashasvi Jaiswal	Cricketer	3.2 M	1.1 M	4.3 M
44	Rinku Singh	Cricketer	3.2 M	1.1 M	4.3 M
45	Ruturaj Gaikwad	Cricketer	3.9 M	NA	3.9 M
46	Saif Ali Khan	Actor	NA	3.6 M	3.6 M
47	Shivam Dube	Cricketer	1.4 M	1.4 M	2.8 M
48	Arshdeep Singh	Cricketer	1.2 M	602k	1.8 M
49	Tilak Varma	Cricketer	1.6 M	7.7k	1.6 M
50	Abhishek Sharma	Cricketer	656K	405K	1.06 M

While Indians love Bollywood, their love for Virat Kohli stands heads and shoulders above other cricketers and even bollywood stars, this is evident from the fact that Virat with an incredible 319 million followers across Instagram and Facebook, is not just leading the pack; he’s outpacing every Bollywood star out there.

You might wonder why Virat Kohli has such a massive following. Well, besides being India’s most cherished cricketer, he’s also a fitness icon, a charismatic leader, and a style influencer. His dedication to fitness, engaging social media presence, and philanthropic efforts make him not just a sports hero but a role model off the field.

Our Bollywood stars however are not that far behind in terms of fan following too.  Celebs such as Priyanka Chopra, Shraddha Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Salman Khan, hold a much stronger presence on Instagram. They claim the next eleven spots in the list right after Virat. Even on Facebook, it’s mostly the Bollywood celebrities shining, with Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni being the only two cricketers among the Top 15, showcasing the unmistakably massive influence held by our Bollywood stars.

Thus, we can see that Virat Kohli is a clear exception. If we exclude him from the cricketers’ list, then Bollywood actors will dominate. The top 6 Bollywood actors have more than 100 million total social media followers, whereas no cricketer has more than 100 million followers except Virat.

However, a significant difference is observed between the top two cricketers while examining the dataset. Virat, who leads in terms of cricketers’ social media following, has 319 million followers, whereas Dhoni has only 74 million followers. That’s nearly 450% more for Virat! Isn’t it fascinating how one individual can gather such a massive fan following?

Crpati’s spokesperson mentions, ‘Indians absolutely love Bollywood, but if there’s one thing they might love more, it’s Virat Kohli.’

However, when we look at the data for the social media following of Bollywood actors, we don’t observe a similar trend. The Top Bollywood celebrities don’t come close to Virat Kohli’s following. But, if we consider the top 5 Bollywood celebrities, we don’t see much difference; it’s a variation of only 5 to 10%.

Priyanka Chopra’s versatility and advocacy, Shraddha Kapoor’s humility and relatability, Deepika Padukone’s grace and mental health activism, and Salman Khan’s charisma and philanthropy have earned them the affection of fans worldwide. Their diverse film choices and admirable real-life traits have built strong connections, contributing to the evenly distributed fan bases among Bollywood actors.

Ultimately, India’s affection leans towards Bollywood, with a collective fan base of 1.63 billion followers of the 25 celebrities on our list, surpassing cricketers, who have only  747.9 million followers combined. While cricketers have huge fan followings, Bollywood stars dominate due to their personal stories and charisma, not just their roles on screen, which make them incredibly relatable and beloved by fans worldwide.

So, are you team cricket bat or team popcorn?