Mumbai September 8, : The high-octane marquee game between India and Pakistan on 28 August in the Group A of Asia Cup 2022 has been dubbed the most watched T20I ever in spite of World Cups.The numbers also stated that 176 million people were tuned in to view the six first games of Asia Cup 2022 in the UAE.
According to BARC data that combines the rural and urban numbers that are available from Star Sports and DD Sports broadcast in the country and Pakistan, the match between India and Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022 recorded an overall reach of 13 million and 13.6 billion minutes of play, which is an increase of more than 30 percent when compared with the clash between the two teams in Asia Cup 2016.
In Sunday’s marquee game against Pakistan in Group A of Asia Cup 2022, described as the most intense rivalry in the world of cricket, Hardik Pandya’s all-round abilities were the main reason for India winning five wickets in an exciting match.
Through the ball, Pandya used his short ball to great effect and also got extra bounce on a two-paced surface to end Pakistan’s innings midway with his run of 3-25.
After that, Pakistan were bowled to 147, India were in a situation where 59 runs were required from the final six overs.
After that, Pandya (33 not out off 17 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (35 off 29 balls) were part of an impressive stand of 52 runs in only 29 balls.
Even even though the left-handed Jadeja was dropped in the third over, Pandya completed the game with a six-over long-on against left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz to take India to victory and create an additional thrilling story in the story of the India-Pakistan war.
“The record-breaking audience for Asia Cup 2022 demonstrates Cricket’s incredible ability to connect fans across multiple platforms, which is further enhanced by Disney Star’s emphasis on extending the reach of its audience.We focused on enhancing the prestige of Asia Cup as a marquee event, and expanding the fan base of Ind against Pak as the must-watch “Greatest Rivalry’.”
“Our highly decibel-rated marketing campaign, combined with the focus on leading-up programming and coverage of regional areas has produced in the Ind vs Pak league match becoming the highest-rated T20I ever (outside of World Cup matches).This is the perfect way to start to the Festival of Cricket that includes bilateral series between Australia and South Africa and is followed by the ICC T20 World Cup,” said Sanjog Gupta, Head – Sports, Disney Star.
With India not able to make the Asia Cup 2022 final after Pakistan had a thrilling one-wicket victory against Afghanistan on Wednesday.Thursday’s game against Afghanistan in Dubai will be their final game of the tournament.
The next series at home for India will be against the reigning Men’s T20 World Cup champions Australia in three-match series which will start on 20 September in Mohali.
Nr/inj
