Asia Cup 2022: India Pakistan Super 4 stage match becomes highest watched T20I match outside the World Cup

Mumbai, Sep 15: India-Pakistan cricket fans were in for a treat in the Asia Cup 2022 as they witnessed their favourite players lock horns with each other in a gap of seven days in the multi-nation tournament.

The official broadcaster of the tournament, Star Sports, had recently announced the India-Pakistan group stage match as the most watched T20I match, outside the World Cup. But that record has been surpassed as the 'Super 4' stage match played on September 4 registered 57.4 million AMA, making it the most watched T20I, outside the World Cup.

It truly was one of the most competitive continental tournaments that kept cricket fans across the country engaged as 243 million* viewers tuned in to watch the Asia Cup 2022 (excluding the finals). The high-octane tournament clocked a total of 58.8 billion* minutes (excluding the finals).

The overall exhilaration for cricket is back in the country, ahead of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, as even the non-India matches through the tournament (excluding the finals) witnessed a massive viewership of 113 million*. Pakistan won that game by 5 wickets.

Earlier the match that took place on August 28, became the most watched T20I ever, outside of World Cups. It recorded a cumulative reach of 133 million and registered 13.6 billion minutes.

"The record-breaking viewership for Asia Cup 2022 demonstrates Cricket's unparalleled power to aggregate fans across platforms, enhanced by Disney Star's focus on audience expansion. We were focused on elevating the stature of the Asia Cup as a marquee tournament and expanding the appeal of Ind vs Pak as the unmissable 'Greatest Rivalry'. Our high decibel marketing campaign combined with the focus on lead-up programming and regional coverage has resulted in Ind vs Pak league match becoming the highest-rated T20I ever (outside of World Cup matches). This is an ideal start to the festival of Cricket which entails bilateral series vs Australia & South Africa and is followed by the ICC T20 World Cup," said Head - Sports, Disney Star Sanjog Gupta said last week.

The Men in Blue clinched a win in this match riding on Hardik Pandya's all-round heroics. The right-handed player first scalped a three-for as Pakistan were bowled out for 147. Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up four wickets. Pandya later chipped in with an unbeaten 33 off 17 deliveries and anchored the side home.

*: BARC data for 2+ U+R- Star Network + DD Sports