New Delhi, March 4 (IANS) The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has created history, becoming the most-watched edition of the tournament in its storied history, with the viewership in India alone crossing 500 million, the highest ever for a T20 World Cup.

In a post on X, Jay Shah wrote, “The journey of the @ICC #T20WorldCup 2026 began with the ambition to make it the most global and 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.”

On the field, the 2026 edition has delivered high-intensity contests and dramatic turnarounds. The group stage featured 20 teams divided into four groups of five, with the top two from each group progressing to the Super Eights.

Traditional heavyweights like Australia and Pakistan were tested early, while emerging sides like Zimbabwe and Nepal produced spirited performances that underlined the growing depth in global T20 cricket.

The Super Eights stage further intensified the competition. The eight qualified teams, namely India, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, England, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Pakistan, were split into two groups of four, with only the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals. Several matches went down to the wire, and net run rate proved decisive in shaping the final standings.

The four teams to reach the semi-finals are India, England, New Zealand and South Africa — a line-up reflecting both pedigree and consistency.

India will face England in a high-profile clash at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, renewing a fierce rivalry, while New Zealand take on South Africa in the other knockout encounter at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Both fixtures promise explosive batting, tactical battles and high-pressure drama, with a place in the final at stake.

The ICC’s streaming service, which serves fans in growth territories, set a new concurrent streaming record during the Super 8 fixture between India and the West Indies, surpassing the previous peak achieved during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 final.

ICC.tv has also already exceeded the total number of users and total minutes watched across the entirety of the 2024 event. Compared to this same stage of the previous tournament, unique users have grown by 28 percent and total playtime has increased by 56 percent.

Across social media platforms, the ICC has surpassed 10 billion video views and remains on track to exceed the 16 billion video views achieved in 2024.

–IANS

vi/bc