Manchester City has been the most successful Premier League side in the past decade, and their midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is one of the reasons behind it. The Belgian international, a household name among football-following countries, was shocked to learn about cricket's rising popularity - a game predominately and passionately played and followed in the South Asian belt.

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Though Football's popularity outgrows every other sport for the number of countries this game is played in, cricket's rise has to do with the game's superstars and their outrageous reach across social media platforms; for instance, India's batting great Virat Kohli, who has over 270m followers on Instagram, making him the most-followed Indian on that app. However, with the growing population of people of South Asian origins, cricket is reaching places it has never been before, though De Bryune was unaware of this.

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When asked if he watches cricket to unwind after a long day, Kevin de Bruyne said, 'No, thanks,' further stating that he doesn't know anyone from Europe who is into doing so. 

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Kevin de Bruyne participated in a quiz round during one of Manchester City's segments called 'AI showdown' alongside his club teammate James McAtee, naming the five most popular sports in Europe. After the presenter revealed the list that showed Football leading the charts, with cricket, basketball, tennis and Formula 1, respectively, following it, de Bruyne was left stunned, saying, “How can cricket be second on the list? That’s a lie.".

“I don’t know anybody in Europe who watches cricket, let’s be honest," the Manchester City star added. 

'Europeans follow cricket? No'

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Seemingly and similarly shocked at de Bruyne's reaction to cricket's rapid rise among continents outside of Asia, the quiz presenter replied affirmatively about it, to which de Bruyne reverted in disbelief, saying, "Who? European people? No."

One of Premier League's greats, Kevin continued saying he follows every other sport than cricket. 

“Yeah, I watch everything else except cricket," he added.

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Time for a goodbye!

Kevin de Bruyne has won countless trophies at Manchester City since joining the club in 2015, and after tasting enormous success at the club for a decade, he announced his separation at the end of the summer. 

At City, de Bruyne won Premier League titles six times, the FA Cup twice, the EFL Cup five times, and the coveted Champions Trophy title once. 

(With inputs from agencies)