World Cup in India sees record number of spectators, says ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday announced that the recently concluded World Cup in India has become the most attended ICC event ever with over 1.2 million people witnessing the event live.

According to the ICC, a total of 1,250,307 fans attended the six-week tournament in India that saw Australia become the world champions for the sixth time.

Before this event, the highest number of attendees was recorded during the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with 1,016,420 spectators attending the event. While the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales saw 752,000 fans attending the event.

The ICC said it was expecting the record to break once the “one-millionth patron attended the group stage match between South Africa and Afghanistan in Ahmedabad”. It added that the tournament reached a historic high when over 90,000 fans attended the final between India and Australia at the same stadium in Ahmedabad.

The ICC also said that the event in India also broke several broadcast and digital viewership records.

The mega event ended on Sunday with Australia shattering India's dream of winning another ICC tournament on their soil, as the Pat Cummins-led side triumphed over the hosts in the all-important World Cup 2023 final to secure their sixth ODI title.

Within two years, Australia have now won all three ICC trophies — T20 World Cup, World Test Championship and ODI World Cup — proving why they are the greatest cricketing nation without a single doubt.

Australia suffered a top-order wobble of their own but Travis Head's 137 off 120 balls saw them romp home with seven overs to spare in the match that never reached great heights.

With 93,000 predominantly Indian fans sat mostly in deathly silence as the Rohit Sharma-led side, who had won 10 matches in a row to make the final, succumbed to their first loss of the tournament in the all-important summit clash.