In a landmark moment for women’s cricket, the India vs Pakistan match during the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 became the most-watched women’s international cricket match in history. 

According to the ICC, the encounter held on October 5 in Colombo registered a reach of 28.4 million viewers and total viewing time of 1.87 billion minutes. On television, it also became the highest-rated league stage match in women’s ODI World Cup history.

The tournament overall has also shattered previous records. The first 11 matches—including India’s games against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and South Africa drew a combined audience of 72 million, up 166% from the prior edition. And total watch time has leapt 327%, hitting 6.3 billion minutes for those matches. The first 13 matches already crossed 60 million viewers and 7 billion minutes watched—about 5× and 12× increases respectively over the previous tournament.

Beyond the India-Pakistan showdown, the match between India and Australia on October 12 also set a peak concurrent streaming record—4.8 million concurrent viewers on JioHotstar.

These figures suggest women’s cricket is no longer niche—it’s commanding mass audiences, breaking stereotypes, and proving that when the stage is set right, the demand is massive.