PUBG Ban Will Leave These Indian Cricketers Disappointed. Bumrah Must Be Having the Last Laugh

PUBG ban comes as a shock to many youngsters who were addicted (and not just hooked) to the mobile game. PUBG is among 118 Chinese apps that came under the latest an imposed by the Centre on Wednesday. The game has been immensely popular in India. In fact, around 25% of all of PUBG’s global gamer base came from India—with online analytics firm SensorTower confirming in numbers over the summer that PUBG has seen more than 175 million game installation in India.

The PUBG Mobile community has given rise to professional gamers including a number of competitive teams from India representing the country at various global-level tournaments and competitions. PUBG Mobile has also pushed the live game streaming industry in India with a large number of content creators earning good money. A bit more on what the ban potentially means for the more serious gamers.

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The popularity of the game was high in the Indian cricketers too. In fact, a viral image shared by the BCCI in 2018 showed that barring Jasprit Singh Bumrah, men in blue just loved the game.

Captain cool, in fact, led the men in blue for their love of PUBG. Here are some Indian cricketers who must be bidding a tearful adieu to the game.

MS Dhoni:

Captain Cool who recently announced his retirement from international cricket has been an ardent fan of the game. He is known as one of the first members in the Indian cricket team to have downloaded the game. But it was Kedar Jadhav who introduced Dhoni to the game during Indian Premier League (IPL) tenure with Chennai Super Kings.

Dhoni has been known as an aggressive player and loves to hunt opponents down. But well, Dhoni's PUBG love has faded in lockdown and is now hooked to classic video game Call of Duty.

READ: Dhoni Fans Go Berserk With Memes After Mahi's 'Favourite' Game PUBG Gets Banned

Kedar Jadhav:

All-rounder Kedar Jadhav is the man credited with introducing top players of the Indian squad, including Dhoni, to the Battle Royale game. On PUBG server, he's known as the 'In-game leader' by his teammates for the number of hours he has spent on the game. Remember when you used to play in groups and one person would direct on where to drop? For the fellows of Indian cricket team, that voice was of Jadhav, who even inspired other payers like Shami. According to a report, Jadhav has been a guide of the game and based on his advice, members such as Shikhar Dhawan and Yuzvendra Chahal actually purchased pads with better display to play PUBG only.

Yuzvendra Chahal

If sources are to believed, Chahal was the most active PUBG player only after Jadhav. He also picked up the game towards the start of 2018. In fact, he is one of the many players who were seen engrossed in the game as they waited for the flight at an airport. The only one who seemed wondering why everyone is gripped to the phones was Jasprit Sigh Bumrah. We feel ya, Bumrah! He was known to play in Jadhav's squad. The height of addiction to the game was such that if the duo weren't allotted the same room during tours, they would go to the hotel lobby to play at night. Hope they find an alternative to their favourite game soon.

Mohammad Shami:

Spinner Shami s yet another Indian cricketer who was introduced to the game by Jadhav, though he is among the late joiners of the team's PUG squad. Reports say that Shami had played the game with his brothers, but didn't join his teammates for some time. But thanks to Jadhav who made him join too. The fact that he used to pay with his brothers gave him an edge when he started playing with the men in blue. He even had a tab to play the game on and was known for his expertise to use sniper.

Shikhar Dhawan:

Opener Shikhar Dhawan started playing PUBG like Shami towards the end of 2018 and is known to have played the game with his wife too. Dhawan, Chahal, Jadhav and Shami are among the top players who are seen playing the game as they wait for their flights during crickets tours.

Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey was named as ardent PUBG fan by his mate Kudleep Yadav who also spilled the beans on Dhoni, Jadhav and Chahal's love for the game. Pandey is middle-order batsman and plays for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.

Deepak Chahar:

Finally the man who revealed about Dhoni's fading interest in PUBG during the lockdown and his newfound love for Call of Duty. Earlier in April, Chahar said that for him, PUBG was still his go-to game. Seamer Deepak Chahar came into the limelight playing for CSK in the IPL under Dhoni and made his international debut in a T20 match against England in 2018.