ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 breaks viewership records, crosses 500 million viewers in India

New Delhi [India], March 4 (ANI): The International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman, Jay Shah, highlighted the record-breaking viewership of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in India, which exceeded 500 million, the highest ever for any T20 World Cup.

Jay Shah also noted that concurrent viewers on JioHotstar peaked at 60.5 million. With the tournament's knockout stage starting, he expressed hope that the strong fan support would continue to set new records.

In a post on X, Jay Shah said, "The journey of the @ICC #T20WorldCup 2026 began with the ambition to make it the most #global & #accessible Cricket event ever. I am humbled that viewership for the event in India has crossed 500 million, the highest ever for any T20 World Cup in history. It was also heartening to see concurrent viewers @JioHotstar hit a peak of 60.5 million. With Knock-out matches for the tournament starting tonight, we hope that the immeasurable love our events receive from Indian fans helps break more records."

The T20 World Cup 2026 moves into its knockout phase on Wednesday, with the first semifinal at Eden Gardens featuring New Zealand against South Africa. The second semifinal will take place on Thursday, pitting India against England at Mumbai's iconic Wankhede Stadium.

South Africa arrive in the semifinals as the only unbeaten team in the tournament, and captain Aiden Markram will look to keep the streak alive and make it to the second consecutive T20 WC final.

Mitchell Santner-led New Zealand are yet to produce a perfect game and will look to achieve that in the semis clash against the Proteas.

India will be coming into the semifinal clash after registering a dominant five-wicket win over West Indies in both teams' last Super 8s clash, which was a must-win fixture for both teams as they were tied on points.

England, led by Harry Brook, on the other hand, enter the semifinal on the back of five consecutive T20 WC wins across the league stage and the Super 8s. (ANI)

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