JioStar, the official digital and broadcast partner of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, has revealed that the India-Pakistan match achieved new records for reach and consumption. The match had a historic digital reach of 163 million, making it the most watched ICC game in the T20 format, even outperforming the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Final between India and South Africa.
The brilliant performance of India led to the 56% growth in digital reach over India in comparison to Pakistan in the ICC Men T20 World Cup 2024.
It emerged as the biggest league-phase match of any ICC T20 tournament on mobile, drawing 1.2 times more viewers than the previous India-Pakistan clash at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Widely regarded as cricket’s greatest rivalry, the India-Pakistan contest once again proved its unmatched popularity, as fans flocked to JioHotstar in record numbers. Moreover, viewership on connected TV surged to 2.4 times that of the corresponding fixture at the 2024 event.
The event also produced an astonishing 20 billion total watch time on all screens, showing the unbelievable amount of fan attention. It led to an increase of 42 per cent in consumption compared to the previous edition of the same fixture due to the good performance of the Indian national cricket team which gave them a 8-1 head to head record against Pakistan at the ICC Men T20 World Cup.
On linear TV, the highly anticipated match achieved a similarly fantastic performance, with a 71% increase in TVR, making it the highest-rated India-Pakistan T20 encounter since 2021. The record-breaking linear TV engagement demonstrated traditional broadcast’s long-standing ability to provide a huge, collective viewing experience.
With associate nations battling hard and putting on a show in this edition, the total reach of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the completion of the group stage is expected to exceed that of the previous edition on digital platforms.
“The build-up to the India vs Pakistan game at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and the match itself had all the ingredients of a spectacle. The record-breaking reach and consumption reflect the scale at which fans all over engage with this tournament across platforms,” said Anup Govindan, Head – Sales, Sports, JioStar.
“This tournament has already delivered thrilling moments for fans worldwide, and the response to the India-Pakistan clash sets the tone for an exciting ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 with the best yet to come.”
Siddharth Sharma, Head of Content, Sports – JioStar: “The unprecedented viewership and engagement numbers for India vs Pakistan is further proof of the nation’s obsession with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup,”.
“Complementing the Indian Cricket Team’s stellar exploits on the field with unmatched scale and choice of unique content offerings, JioStar is giving viewers more than one reason to stay locked in as India attempts to defeat history and become the first ever back-to-back T20 World Champions.”
With India’s qualification for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 stage, which begins on February 21, the event enters its decisive phase, with the defending champions aiming to “repeat and defeat history”.
