The 2026 T20 World Cup is turning into a stupendous success on and off the field.
Laudable performances from Associate nations, Zimbabwe's charge to the Super Eight stage and the quality of contest between bat and ball have made it one of the more memorable World Cups in recent times.
Matches throughout the tournament have also been well attended, with sizeable crowds even at non marquee matches not involving India.
But as has become almost a pre-requisite for the success of a cricket tournament, India's successful run has fueled interest in the tournament to a large extent.
India's must-win Super Eight match against the West Indies in Kolkata and the semi-final against England in Mumbai have brought in unprecedented viewership figures.
According to tournament broadcasters JioHotstar, the India v England match drew a record concurrent viewership of 65.2 million and an aggregate viewership of 619m.
According to the broadcaster, "it was the highest concurrency ever recorded for a live event on any digital platform".
The semi-final was a near perfect T20 game with almost 500 runs scored across both innings and the match decided deep into the final over during England's chase.
The semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium also became the most-streamed T20 match in history, surpassing the 533m mark set during the 2024 T20 World Cup final, which was also won by India.
“It is incredibly heartening to see the T20 World Cup bringing together hundreds of millions of cricket fans in India," International Cricket Council chief Jay Shah said.
"The remarkable numbers recorded during the India vs England semi-final demonstrate not only the passion of cricket fans but also the tremendous progress being made in making the game more accessible and engaging for audiences everywhere."
The ICC also revealed that Thursday's semi-final set a new benchmark for cricket viewership across television and digital platforms, garnering a combined reach exceeding 320m viewers and a watch-time of 23 billion minutes.
