iWorld
Twitter introduces new features for more interactive Cricket Season
KOLKATA: Microblogging site Twitter has added a couple of new features to create a more interactive experience for the platform’s users this cricket season for. Among the new features, Spaces, the social media giant’s new Clubhouse like feature, has generated a great deal of buzz among Tweeple.
With cricket being such a huge passion point on Twitter, teams have already started making the most of Spaces to connect with and engage fans on the service. Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) recently hosted a Twitter Space with Zaheer Khan (@ImZaheer) – #TwitterSpaceWithZak – becoming the first sports club in the country to do so. The Space had Zaheer interacting with fans and sharing plans for the upcoming season.
Twitter has launched eight new jersey emojis for all the teams in English and six Indic languages. Fans can simply tweet with the team hashtags to unlock these emojis and participate in live conversations. Here are some of the hashtags that will unlock the team emojis: #IPL2021, #MumbaiIndians, #OneFamily, #WhistlePodu, #விசில்போடு, #WeAreChallengers, #HallaBol, #RoyalsFamily, #PunjabKings, #SaddaPunjab, #KKRHaiTaiyaar, #KorboLorboJeetbo, #YehHaiNayiDilli, #OrangeArmy, and more.
Topics allow people to follow conversations on specific subjects. Using machine learning, Topics pull out related tweets on a subject, letting people follow numerous interest categories. When you follow a Topic, you will see tweets from a number of accounts – whether you follow them or not – on the shared interest. Last year, Twitter introduced several Topics for cricket – one for the series and several others for all of the teams – so people can stay up-to-date with all conversations around cricket.
Additionally, there are Twitter Lists – a compilation of Twitter accounts, which lets people put together their favourite accounts to follow for tweets on a specific subject and populate a separate timeline for the List.
Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals will be hosting live shows to bring fans closer together. The shows will involve commentary and watching the game virtually along with a select group of fans every match day. Whereas, ESPN Cricinfo (@CricinfoHindi) will be sharing Hindi videos this season from their new Hindi handle.
iWorld
T20 World Cup ’26: India–England semi-final sets global streaming record of 619 million views on JioHotstar
India–England semi-final records 65.2 million peak streams
MUMBAI: The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 set a new milestone in global sports streaming, as the India–England semi-final drew record digital audiences on JioHotstar.
The match on 5 March registered 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers, the highest ever recorded for a live event on any streaming platform worldwide. The semi-final also generated 619 million views, making it the most streamed T20 international match in history.
The landmark audience numbers were driven largely by viewers in India, setting a record achieved within a single market, rather than through aggregated viewership across multiple countries.
The high-scoring encounter between India national cricket team and England cricket team produced 499 runs across both innings, fuelling widespread fan engagement across platforms.
According to the International Cricket Council, the digital record surpassed the previous global benchmark of 65 million concurrent viewers, set in November 2024 by another international streaming platform.
Across television and digital platforms combined, the semi-final reached more than 320 million viewers, while total watch time exceeded 23 billion minutes, making it the most watched T20 international match ever.
“This World Cup demonstrates the immense passion of cricket fans and the progress made in bringing the game closer to audiences worldwide,” said ICC chairman Jay Shah.
“This moment reflects the scale of cricket fandom in India and the technological capability required to serve hundreds of millions of viewers simultaneously.”
JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar, said the audience surge underscored the future of large-scale digital entertainment.
“One in every three Indians tuned in to watch the second semi-final. Delivering such an experience at scale requires the very best of technology,” he said.
The 619 million views during the match also eclipsed the 533 million views recorded during the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
With the final yet to be played, the 2026 tournament has already set multiple benchmarks in audience reach and digital engagement.
India will face the New Zealand national cricket team in the final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar.
