New Zealand's population quadrupled: India vs Pakistan Champions Trophy 2025 match shatters all viewership records

The highly anticipated India versus Pakistan match in the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 turned out to be a one-sided affair as Rohit Sharma and his team easily emerged victorious, with Virat Kohli scoring his 51st ODI century and 82nd international century overall. Despite the lack of competition on the field, viewership for the intense rivalry match was off the charts, showcasing the unwavering interest and passion of cricket fans around the world.

As per the official numbers released by the official broadcaster JioStar, the Group A match between India and Pakistan was watched by an unprecedented 20.6 crore TV viewers, making it the second most-watched cricket match in BARC history (outside of the World Cup matches).

As per data available on various platforms, the population of New Zealand is just a little more than 5 crore, and the viewership numbers of India versus Pakistan are five times the total number of people who live in New Zealand. This just highlights how big of a rivalry India versus Pakistan truly is.

The contest played on February 23 also surpassed the previous 50-over India vs Pakistan face-off in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup India 2023. Ratings (TVR) for the match held in Dubai were 11 per cent higher than those for the match in Ahmedabad during the ODI World Cup in 2023.

The Champions Trophy 2025 match, which saw Virat Kohli become the fastest to 14,000 ODI runs, also clocked a staggering 2609 crore minutes of TV watchtime.

The loss against India in the Champions Trophy all but ended Pakistan's hopes of making it to the final. The tournament hosts were left dependent on the New Zealand versus Bangladesh game to have any hope of making it to the semi-finals.

India reach final, Pakistan crash out before semis

As soon as New Zealand got the better of Bangladesh, Mohammad Rizwan-led Pakistan crashed out of the eight-team tournament. Their last fixture against Bangladesh was abandoned due to rain in Rawalpindi.

On the other hand, India have been a force to reckon with, in the tournament. Rohit's team topped Group A after registering victories against Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand.

India then defeated Australia in the semi-final at the Dubai International Stadium to make way to their third successive Champions Trophy final. Rohit and co will next square off against the Kiwis in the summit clash.

In the semi-final, India chased down 265 comfortably, owing to chase master Virat Kohli's knock of 84 off 98 balls.

Earlier, New Zealand defeated South Africa in the second semi-final to progress to the final, which will be played at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, March 9.

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