Women’s cricket is slowly gaining popularity and the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 is proof of the same. With unprecedented growth in viewership, ICC has broken all digital viewing records for the India vs Pakistan Women’s match.
The ICC Women’s World Cup returned to India after a very long time, and Indians welcomed this opportunity to watch and cheer for the women in blue with open arms. Stadiums across the country are abuzz with crowds of spectators flocking to the games, especially for Indian sports.
Unlike India, Sri Lanka, which is hosting its first ICC women’s event, has not recorded such a large crowd, although the weather has also played a role. However, this edition of the Women’s World Cup has still received a better reception.
India vs Pakistan Women’s World Cup match sets new standards for women’s cricket
The India vs Pakistan match played in Colombo on October 5 has broken all digital records. “A reach of 28.4 million and consumption of 1.87 billion minutes, making it the most watched women’s international cricket match ever,” an ICC statement on Thursday claimed.
Although the India vs Pakistan match may have been the standout match in terms of viewership, the other big positive is that the first half of the league stage of the World Cup has performed well. As the ICC reported, “record-breaking numbers across digital and linear platforms”.
The India vs Pakistan match has also become the highest-rated league match in the history of the Women’s World Cup in terms of TV viewership. The first 11 league matches, including the three India matches, recorded a reach of 72 million. The ICC further said, “An increase of 166% compared to the previous edition.” Additionally, “viewing minutes increased 327% to 6.3 billion.”
JioStar records highest viewership for ICC Women’s World Cup 2025
Apart from the viewership record, a joint data release by both ICC and official online streaming partner JioStar shows that the first 13 matches have reached over 60 million viewers and a viewing time of over 7 billion.
“According to data released jointly by ICC and JioHotstar, the first 13 matches of the tournament have already reached over 60 million viewers, five times more than the 2022 edition, while the total viewing time has reached 7 billion minutes, 12 times more than the previous tournament,” an ICC statement said.
He also said that an exciting match was recorded between India and Australia on October 12. There is 4.8 million peak concurrent viewers on JioHotstar, which is another all-time high for women’s cricket.”
Australian women emerge as first semi-finalists of WWC 2025
Australian Women are considered the lopsided favorites of any ICC competition in women’s cricket, and they have proven time and again why they are the world champion team. 7-time ICC World Cup champion Australia once again gave a crushing defeat to its opponent and entered the semi-finals with a brilliant performance.
Remaining undefeated so far in the competition, they have won 4 of their 5 matches, while the match against Sri Lanka was washed out by rain. Australia defeated Bangladesh women’s team by a huge margin of 10 wickets with the help of captain Alyssa Healy’s second century in this edition of the World Cup.
Healy’s return to form, along with the likes of Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney and Ashley Gardner, would be the biggest boost for the Australian team chasing an eighth World Cup title. They are the first team to have already entered the semi-finals.
Also read: Marnus Labuschagne returns to Australia after Cameron Green is out of India ODI
