Jay Shah ‘humbled’ after JioHotstar records 500 million viewership for ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026

The ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 has set a new viewership record in India, with more than 500 million people tuning in on JioHotstar. This is also the highest-ever viewership for any T20 World Cup edition in history.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah announced the news via micro-blogging platform X on Wednesday. Shah, in his post, also added that JioHotstar hit a peak of 60.5 million concurrent views.

"It was also heartening to see concurrent viewers @JioHotstar hit a peak of 60.5 million. With Knock-out matches for the tournament starting tonight, we hope that the immeasurable love our events receive from Indian fans helps break more records," he added.

South Africa will face New Zealand in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2026 in Kolkata on Wednesday, whereas India will take on England in the second semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday.

The Men in Blue, who are the defending champions, enter the T20 World Cup semi-finals on the back of a five-wicket win over West Indies in a crucial Super 8 match in Kolkata.

Sanju Samson's unbeaten 97 runs off 50 balls helped the Men in Blue chase down 196 runs with four balls to spare. India had begun their Super 8 campaign with a 76-run loss to South Africa, before going on to thump Zimbabwe by 72 runs.

In the group stage, India were in Group A along with the USA, Pakistan, Namibia and the Netherlands. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side finished the group stage unbeaten with eight points from four matches, which included a 61-run win over arch-rivals Pakistan.

The India vs Pakistan match in Colombo, in fact, recorded a viewership of 163 million on JioHotstar. By doing so, that match surpassed the viewership record of the T20 World Cup 2024 final between India and South Africa, which had achieved a peak of 53 million concurrent viewers on JioHotstar.