Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 opening match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has broken all the previous records of viewership. The season opener of the 13th edition of the league was watched by record-breaking 20 crore people.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah shared the viewership record on his official Twitter account. He quoted the survey of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) which stated that the match between MI and CSK has recorded the highest ever opening day viewership for any sporting league in any country.
“As per BARC, an unprecedented 20crore 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,” he wrote on Twitter while tagging BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.
Total viewership on @StarSportsIndia and @DisneyPlusHS.@starindia @ThakurArunS @BCCI
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) September 22, 2020
IPL 2020 finally being hosted amid pandemic:
IPL 2020, after passing through all the obstacles in its way, finally kicked off from 19th September with the match between MI and CSK where the latter registered the victory by five wickets.
Earlier, the most-watched league was scheduled to begin from 29th March but the outbreak of the unprecedented coronavirus postponed the league. BCCI got the window to reschedule it in September after ICC postponed the T20 World Cup 2020, which was scheduled from October to November in New Zealand, to next year. But the Indian board had to take the league outside India because of rising cases at home.
Finally, UAE was decided as the venue for hosting IPL 2020. But the CSK camp didn’t remain untouched from the virus. 13 personnel, including two players, tested positive of the virus. However, before one week of the start of IPL, CSK players reports turned negative. Even, Ruturaj Gaikwad has also tested negative of the virus after being quarantined for over a month.
After passing all the hurdles in its way, the league has begun and fans have got the chance to watch the Indian cricketers in the field.