The incredible pull of Indian cricket

As India homed in towards a well-earned victory against New Zealand for their fifth successive World Cup win on Sunday, Virat Kohli flat batted Trent Boult for a six over deep mid-wicket. The word spread that the chase master was masterminding another run-chase. And, he was aiming for another hundred.

- Rasesh Mandani

As the legend goes, the boy on the street would tell his folks ‘Mahi maar raha hai’ about the free-spirited MS Dhoni and people would gather to watch; how events play out today, the peak concurrent viewing numbers on Hotstar – the live streaming platform of the ODI World Cup - began to spiral up for Kohli.

From 37 million, they became 38 as Kohli drove one past the bowler for a four. With victory in sight, the only remaining point of interest was whether Kohli would get to his 49th ODI hundred and go equal with his idol Sachin Tendulkar. India and Kohli needed 5 runs more. A six would seal it, a four would bring him closer. It was not to be for Kohli.

But the racy action spread over 15 minutes took Hotstar’s peak viewership numbers up to 43 million; New Zealand’s population is a little over 5 million. The new viewership record comfortably went past the previous peak (35 million), from the India-Pakistan match, earlier in this tournament.

Peak concurrent numbers don’t convey the whole story, but they do tell us one thing – when the Indian team is on a winning spree gunning for a world title, be it T20 or ODI, viewers tune in. The International Cricket Council calls India a key market. It’s The Key Market - approximately 85% of ICC’s broadcast revenue (2024-27) comes from here.