JioStar, the official digital and broadcast partner of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, has unveiled that the India vs Pakistan on JioHotstar established new records for reach and consumption.
The match had a historic digital reach of 163 million, resulting in 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. India’s dazzling performance resulted in a 56% increase in digital reach over India against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
On mobile, the game had the biggest match reach in the league stage of any ICC T20 tournament, with 1.2 times greater than the previous India-Pakistan encounter in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. The India-Pakistan match, regarded as cricket’s greatest rivalry, exhibited its unparalleled popularity as fans flocked to JioHotstar. The match had 2.4 times the reach on CTV as the India-Pakistan encounter in the 2024 edition.
The event generated an astounding 20 billion minutes of cumulative viewing time across all screens, demonstrating the incredible level of fan involvement. This resulted in a 42% increase in consumption over the previous edition’s fixture, owing to the Indian national cricket team’s strong performance, which extended their head-to-head record against Pakistan at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to 8-1.
On linear TV, the highly anticipated match achieved a similarly fantastic result, with a 71% increase in TVR, making it the highest-rated India-Pakistan T20 clash since 2021. The record-breaking linear TV engagement demonstrated conventional broadcast’s long-standing ability to provide a huge, communal watching 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.
Anup Govindan, Head – Sales, Sports, JioStar, said, “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. 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, said, “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 critical phase, with the defending champions aiming to “repeat and defeat history”.
