New Delhi: The popularity of women’s cricket has soared to unprecedented heights, as the Women’s ODI World Cup clash between India and Pakistan on October 5 has officially become the most-watched women’s international cricket match of all time. According to a statement released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday, the match achieved a staggering digital reach of 28.4 million and clocked 1.87 billion minutes consumed.
This historic achievement is not an isolated event. The ICC confirmed that the entire first half of the tournament’s league stage has delivered “record-breaking numbers” across both digital and traditional television platforms signaling a monumental shift in the sport’s viewership.
Unprecedented Growth Across All Platforms
On television the India-Pakistan game also set a record as the highest-rated league-stage match in the tournament’s history. The viewership for the first 11 matches of the World Cup reached 72 million people, marking a massive 166% increase from the previous edition. Furthermore total viewing minutes surged by an incredible 327% to 6.3 billion.
The digital boom is even more pronounced. Data jointly released by the ICC and JioHotstar shows that the tournament’s first 13 matches have already attracted over 60 million viewers a five-fold increase from the 2022 edition. The total watch-time has skyrocketed 12 times to hit 7 billion minutes. The India vs. Australia game on October 12 also set a new benchmark recording 4.8 million peak concurrent viewers on JioHotstar another all-time high for women’s cricket.
The enthusiasm is also visible in the stands with stadiums reporting healthy attendance, especially for home matches in India and Sri Lanka. These staggering figures confirm that women’s cricket has entered a new record-breaking era capturing the attention of millions globally.
Women’s cricket has entered a new, record-breaking era
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