Boycott Drama Helps India-Pakistan Match Break Records, Group Match Outperforms T20 World Cup 2024 Final Viewership

The India-Pakistan contest has become one of the hottest viewing spectacles of the year in the T20 World Cup. Following the entire boycott drama, Pakistan eventually came into line for the match-up and obliged to the ICC's standard protocol.

The peak drama before the match-up generated significant interest among the masses worldwide as they tuned in for the match, which turned out to be a very one-sided affair.

The India-Pakistan T20 World Cup group-stage fixture broke records in terms of viewership, outperforming every other T20 WC fixture, including the 2024 Final.

India-Pakistan T20 World Cup 2026 Fixture Breaks Reach And Viewership Records

T20 World Cup broadcaster JioStar officially announced the viewership numbers for the India-Pakistan T20 World Cup 2026 group-stage fixture. The match-up recorded an "unprecedented digital reach of 163 million."

The IND vs PAK group-stage encounter received the highest match reach for any ICC event in T20Is. It even surpassed the highest reach for any ICC event in the T20 format and also surpassed the viewership for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Final between India and South Africa.

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The India-Pakistan match also clocked the highest match reach in the league stage of any ICC T20 event, and 1.2x more than the last encounter between the two sides at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

The match also generated a mind-boggling 20 billion minutes of total watch time across all types of screens as India bettered their head-to-head record over Pakistan at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to 8–1.

India-Pakistan Match Also A Hit In Linear TV

The India-Pakistan T20 World Cup broadcast also clocked huge numbers on linear TV, securing a TVR growth of 71%. It was the highest-rated IND vs PAK T20 contest since 2021, making it a record-breaking affair in traditional broadcast, with fans engaging in huge numbers.

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Team India trounced Pakistan once again, with Ishan Kishan hammering 77 off 40 while skipper Suryakumar Yadav smashed 32 off 29 deliveries as the Men in Blue reached 175/7.

Pakistan Cricket fumbled big time during the chase, with the Indian bowling attack obliterating them and restricting their chase to 114 and bowling them out in the 18th over.