Why 'Cricbuzz' Keeps Trending in India: The Story Behind India's Default Cricket Score Destination

Why millions of Indians keep typing 'cricbuzz' into Google

If you have ever searched for a live cricket score in India, chances are you typed one word: cricbuzz. Google Trends Explore data for India, observed on 14 October 2026, shows 'cricbuzz' holding a normalized interest score of 21 over the past 12 months — down 30% year on year, but still a steady, everyday search habit rather than a news-driven spike. That is the signature of a navigational query: people are not searching for a story about Cricbuzz, they are searching for Cricbuzz itself.

So what exactly is the platform behind one of India's most persistent brand searches, and how did a 2004 startup become the default scoreboard for a cricket-obsessed nation?

What Cricbuzz is and who owns it

Cricbuzz is a Bengaluru-headquartered cricket news and live-scores website, launched on 1 November 2004 by Pankaj Chhaparwal, Piyush Agrawal and Pravin Hegde. It offers ball-by-ball text commentary, player statistics, team rankings, news, articles and video content, across both its website and mobile app. Crucially for India's diverse audience, it is available in English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi and Bengali.

The ownership story explains much of its scale. In November 2014, Times Internet — the digital arm of The Times Group — acquired a majority stake in Cricbuzz, and in January 2015 merged its own GoCricket property into the platform. Today, Times Internet describes Cricbuzz as "the go-to platform for live cricket scores, updates, and analysis," listing it among its category-leading sports products.

From scores to shows: Cricbuzz Live, Cricbuzz11 and Willow

Cricbuzz has steadily expanded beyond live scores:

• Cricbuzz Live (2018): A pre-match, mid-innings and post-match analysis show featuring names such as Harsha Bhogle, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. Bhogle had been hired as 'Voice of Cricket in India' back in September 2016.
• Willow by Cricbuzz (April 2024): Willow, the pay-TV cricket channel for the US and Canada, was integrated into the Cricbuzz app in those markets, bringing IPL and ICC streaming rights under one roof for the diaspora.
• Cricbuzz11 (February 2025): The platform's entry into fantasy sports, putting it in competition with Dream11 — interestingly, Dream11's parent Dream Sports then acquired a minority stake in Cricbuzz and Willow TV for $50 million in May 2025.

How big is Cricbuzz, really?

The most cited figures are dated but telling: Cricbuzz reported 50 million users in January 2018, claimed 2.6 billion page views in January 2015, and was reported as the second most downloaded news app globally in Q2 2019. These numbers should be read with their years attached — they show historical scale, not current traffic.

As for the search trend itself, the -30% change in Google Trends interest is a relative, normalized shift on a 0–100 scale. It does not mean Cricbuzz lost 30% of its users; it means the brand term's share of search interest cooled somewhat over 12 months, which is normal as app usage replaces direct web searches for habitual users.

What this means for readers

For most Indians, searching 'cricbuzz' is simply the fastest route to a live score. But the platform's two-decade journey — from a three-person startup to a Times Internet flagship with fantasy gaming and overseas streaming — shows how deeply cricket coverage has embedded itself into India's digital habits. Whether the search interest dips or rises, the brand remains synonymous with following the game.