Australian cricketer Pat Cummins’s tweet about his donation to COVID-19 relief efforts in India was the most “Retweeted Tweet of the year”, while Virat Kohli’s tweet announcing the birth of his daughter was the most liked on the microblogging platform in India this year.

Cummins had donated $50,000 to the PM Cares Fund to help India’s fight against Covid-19 in April this year when he was playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021. Cummins also urged fellow players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 to extend help.

#Covid19, #FarmersProtest, #TeamIndia, #Tokyo2020, #IPL2021, #IndVEng, #Diwali, #Master (movie), #Bitcoin and #PermissionToDance (song by South Korean boy band BTS) were the most used hashtags on the platform during the year, according to Twitter’s ‘#OnlyOnTwitter: Golden Tweets of 2021’ report.

The report analysed the number of Retweets/Likes by Twitter accounts in India between January 1 – November 15, 2021.

“As the second COVID-19 wave hit India, people from across the world came forward to support the country. Among them was Australian cricketer Pat Cummins, who made a donation towards COVID relief in India, and took to Twitter to encourage others to do the same. The generosity of the Tweet received gratitude from people all over the country, making this the most Retweeted Tweet in India in 2021,” Twitter said.

This Tweet – which has been retweeted 114,000 times till date – was also the most Quote Tweeted this year (21,900).

pic.twitter.com/2TPkMmdWDE

— Pat Cummins (@patcummins30) April 26, 2021

Earlier this year, cricketer Virat Kohli and his wife, actor Anushka Sharma welcomed their first child. Kohli’s Tweet announcing the arrival of their daughter was ecstatically received by the couple’s fans, and all of India, making it the ‘Most Liked Tweet’ of 2021 (538,200 likes).

Last year, Kohli’s Tweet announcing Sharma’s pregnancy became the Most Liked Tweet of 2020′. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet sharing a picture of him getting his first COVID-19 vaccine became the ‘Most Retweeted Tweet in Government’.

The Tweet also expressed gratitude to doctors, scientists and medical workers for their undeterred contribution towards the COVID-19 battle. It has since then been retweeted 45,100 times and received 225,800 likes.

Modi’s tweet congratulating #TeamIndia for their historic test win against Australia at the Gabba emerged as the ‘Most Liked Tweet in Government’ this year (298,000 Likes).

This October, the Tata Group welcomed back Air India into its fold – after nearly 70 years of the airlines being state-owned. Expressing his delight at the development, Ratan Tata – Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons – tweeted a heartfelt note saying, Welcome back, Air India, with an iconic picture of the early Air India planes.

Just like the news, the tweet generated conversations on Twitter, becoming the ‘Most Retweeted Tweet in business’. This Tweet was also the most Liked Tweet in business this year. It has since then been retweeted 82,900 times and received 404,000 Likes.

In the sports category, Virat Kohli’s appreciation tweet for MS Dhoni’s match-winning play during the IPL was the most retweeted in sports this year. Dhoni had #CricketTwitter buzzing with his final-over masterstroke against Delhi Capitals that carried Chennai Super Kings into the season’s semi-finals. Among the awe-struck fans was Kohli, who hailed his contemporary by calling him King’ in an all-hearts appreciation tweet.