While the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians was surfaced with huge expectations as the cricketing fans were desperate to watch the live-action between the champions and rivals, the recent revelation had drawn immense attention from the fans as they have gone amazed after knowing that the first match between Dhoni's and Rohit's army has set a new and indeed a 'Wow' record in the viewership.
From the toss to the presentation ceremony, over 20 crore people had watched the match through online and TV, which has become the unprecedented viewership ever recorded in any IPL match and in any sporting league in the world. Yes, no league match across the world hasn't even near to this feat, which has exemplified how the match was occupied and expected from the fans as it has drawn such a large-scale viewership.
Jay Shah, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) put out the news. Taking to Twitter, the son of Home Minister Amit Shah said, "Opening match of #Dream11IPL sets a new record! As per BARC, an unprecedented 20 crore people tuned in to watch the match. Highest ever opening day viewership for any sporting league in any country- no league has ever opened as big as this".
Total viewership on @StarSportsIndia and @DisneyPlusHS.@starindia @ThakurArunS @BCCI
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) September 22, 2020
Sharing the feat, IPL has thanked the fans for this feat. The official twitter handle of IPL said, "Thank you India and world. It's been a dream start to #Dream11IPL. We've recorded highest ever TV & DIGITAL viewership in IPL history 200 million viewership - #MIvCSK". One of the major factors why the match had got such a huge viewership was the return of MS Dhoni.
Legendary Indian Captain Dhoni has on last month announced his retirement from the international cricket and the opening match of the IPL would be the first game for Dhoni to play since he announced his retirement. Most of the fans had awaited to see his play than the start of the IPL as he pitched in with his fleet as skipper of Chennai Super Kings, which is one of the successful teams in the IPL.
Thank you, India 🇮🇳 and 🌏🌎🌏. It's been a dream start to #Dream11IPL. We've recorded highest ever TV & DIGITAL viewership in IPL history
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 22, 2020
200 million viewership - #MIvCSK@ChennaiIPL @DelhiCapitals @lionsdenkxip @KKRiders @mipaltan @rajasthanroyals @RCBTweets @SunRisers
Dhoni had also returned to the field after 437 days as the last match he played was the semi-finals of the 2019 ICC World Cup against New Zealand. Dhoni was in the spotlight throughout the match and the CSK has registered a great victory after it had defeated the defending champions, its rivalry, Mumbai Indians on Saturday. Through the victory, Dhoni has decorated the new achievement after he became the first captain in the IPL history to register 100 runs.
The current edition of the IPL has been hosting by the United Arab Emirates as India has lost the host-manship in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Online streaming platform Disney+Hotstar has been the streaming partner for Star Sports and the reports say that over 70 viewers had watched the match on the online platform.
Comments