ICC announces massive viewership for IND vs ENG Semi-Final, raises questions over India–Pakistan rivalry

World cricket experienced an unforgettable desperate battle between India and England in the second Semi-final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai last Thursday night (March 5). Now, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has come up with a big revelation that shows the India-Pakistan rivalry is moving to lesser values. 

The India vs England second Semi-final match produced a high-scoring thriller with 499 runs, where India scored 253/7 in 20 overs, and brave England replied with 246/7 in 20 overs.  

T20 World Cup 2026: Performers and Events planned for IND vs NZ Final closing ceremony in Ahmedabad

Shattered the world record for digital viewership: ICC Chairman Jay Shah

On Friday (March 6), ICC Chairman Jay Shah revealed the digital viewership record during the India vs England match in the second Semi-final of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. The match registered a peak digital concurrency of more than 65 million views to shatter previous records. 

On his social media post, ICC Chairman Jay Shah wrote, "Second semi-final of the @ICC #T20WorldCup 2026 has shattered the world record for digital viewership. The match between @BCCI and @EnglandCricket registered a peak digital concurrency of 65.2 million viewers @JioHotstar which is the highest for any live event across the world. This demonstrates the unparalleled capacity of marquee global Cricket to aggregate Indian fans as well as the prowess of my team at the ICC and our partner #JioStar in recruiting & engaging fans at scale. Proud moment for all of us as we set new global benchmarks in the world of #sport, #media and #streaming."

How big was viewership record?

According to Grok, no other platform recorded 65M+ peak concurrent for high-quality live sports. It also clarified that the 2024 Tyson fight registered 65M views on Netflix, but with reported quality issues, while Hotstar had its previous record of 59M during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 Final between India and Australia, where the hosts India lost the Final by six wickets. 

It clearly shows that Indian cricket fans are more interested in watching better challenging matches than India-Pakistan cricket matches.