The IPL 2020 began with defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) taking on last year’s finalists Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Abu Dhabi and the BCCI has quoted a result from a Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) survey, that a record 20 crore or 200 million people watched the tournament opener.
This feat was claimed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who also posted the stat on his Twitter account, stating, “Opening match of #Dream11IPL sets a new record! 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. @IPL @SGanguly99 @UShanx @DisneyPlusHS.”
The match saw CSK winning the toss and choosing to bowl first. MI struggled to get going and managed just 162/9 with Saurabh Tiwary making 42, while Lungi Ngidi taking 3/38. In reply, CSK lost early wickets, but 71 from Ambati Rayudu and 58* from Faf du Plessis took the team to a five-wicket win.
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The IPL’s official Twitter account also tweeted the stat thanking viewers in India and all over the world for making the IPL 2020 opening match the most-watched in IPL’s history. “Thank you, India and ????????????. It's been a dream start to #Dream11IPL. We've recorded highest ever TV & DIGITAL viewership in IPL history 200 million viewership - #MIvCSK,” they tweeted.
The tournament had to be shifted to the UAE after BCCI found it difficult to hold the IPL in India due to rising Coronavirus cases. The initial start date of the IPL 13 was postponed from March until the cancellation of this year’s T20 World Cup in Australia opened a window for the most popular T20 league to happen.
BCCI has done a lot to see that the tournament goes off without a hitch, hiring a UK based firm to create bio-bubbles for all franchises and at the three venues- Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
