‘Record breakers’: ICC reveals Australia’s World Cup win over India was the most watched match of all time

Australia’s male cricketers have had another major win to round out 2023, with the ICC revealing they smashed a number of records at the ODI World Cup.

Australia’s all-conquering men’s team has finished the year with another win, with the ICC revealing that last month’s shock win over India in the ODI World Cup was the most watched match of all time.

According to the sport’s governing body, the final attracted a staggering 87.6 billion live viewing minutes around the world, which was up 46 per cent from the last time India reached the final in 2011.

The tournament broke all sorts of broadcast and digital records, with more than one trillion total viewing minutes broadcast as India cruised through the World Cup, only to fall at the final hurdle to the Aussies.

Travis Head’s heroics in the final helped Australia beat India as record numbers tuned in. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

That didn’t stop the locals from tuning in to every delivery, while the numbers back in Australia were also through the roof after they bounced back from a slow start to the tournament to break Indian hearts thanks to a masterful Travis Head century.

“The host country India contributed significantly to the staggering numbers with 422 billion viewing minutes on the Disney Star Network alone, resulting in a whopping 54 per cent increase from 2011 and 9 per cent from 2019,” the ICC statement read.

“The surge in female viewership played a role in the overall growth, climbing from 32 per cent during the 2011 edition to 34 per cent in the current year. This shift underscored the widespread enthusiasm surrounding the host country’s tournament.

“Outside of India too, there was significant growth in broadcast numbers, most notably in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Superstars Glenn Maxwell and Virat Kohli featured in some of the most-watched clips on social media. Picture: Sajjad Hussain / AFP

“The UK witnessed 800 hours of live coverage, resulting in over 586 billion minutes of live viewing. Australia contributed 3.79 billion minutes of viewing from 602 hours of live coverage, marking an increase of 92 per cent from 2011.

“Australia’s success at the tournament also meant that 9.1 million people tuned in to watch the 2023 World Cup, a three-million rise from 2019.”

The final peaked at a ridiculous 59 million fans tuning in concurrently, while the ICC also registered record digital numbers with 16.9 billion views.

Originally published as ‘Record breakers’: ICC reveals Australia’s World Cup win over India was the most watched match of all time