As many as 288 million viewers tuned into watch India take on Pakistan on February 15. (Source: PTI)

India’s triumphant start to the World Cup with a 76-run win over arch rival Pakistan, has proved to be a winner for everyone associated with the game. Both digital and television mediums are counting the blessings of being part of the India vs Pakistan encounter on February 15 at Adelaide. (Full Coverage| Points table| Fixtures)

The television ratings for Star Sports, the official broadcaster of ICC, has just been released and it reveals only good news. Star Sports, announced via a press release, that the game was the most watched television event in India since the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

As many as 288 million viewers (TAM data CS4+ extrapolated to the universe using a standard conversion factor) tuned into watch India take on Pakistan on February 15. The match rated 14.8 TVR (TAM data M15+ ABC) across Star network including DD. The match rated 11.9 TVR (TAM data M15+ ABC) on Star network and 2.9 TVR (TAM data M15+ ABC) on DD. The India-Pakistan game delivered across town classes led by the top six Metros rating 17.2 TVR and 1 million+ towns rating 15.5TVR (All data TAM data M15+ ABC).

The match was broadcasted in six languages with 76% of the viewership being received by Hindi and regional feeds and the balance 24% from English.

Now onto the digital platforms, where leading the revolution was Star’s Mauka ad campaign garnering over 17 million views.

For Twitter too the match was a big unqualified success with 118.3 million live tweet impressions, which is the total number of views of tweets related to #IndvPak encounter. Around 1.7 million tweets on the day related to the match.

The maximum tweets in the day came when India won the match (see above). There were other key moments as well like when the moment Virat Kohli scored a hundred and then when he got out. The dismissals of Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi also gained much traction.

The most mentioned player on either side was not surprisingly Virat Kohli, followed by Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Sohail Khan.

Not just in terms of digital and television mediums, even the sale of tickets and hospitality packages have risen as a result of the India win. “Since March last year, we have had packages ranging from Rs 6,500 to Rs 3 lakh. But traditionally, we Indians wake up two days in advance. When people still come to us, we tell them that now just the flight prices have shot up to around Rs 1.5 lakh a seat. Some of them go, ‘Chhodo (leave it), India is playing s*** anyway’,” Anant Roongta, the director of Fanatic Sports was quoted as saying by the weekly magazine Open.

Meanwhile, the other major hospitality packages supplier, Kyazoonga.com, confirmed that they too have encountered a massive jump in demand since the Indian win. “In the lead-up to the World Cup, there was good demand for the packages that are available through our website. But after India’s win over Pakistan, the demand has increased 4-5 times. Historically, we have seen that India’s performance in the lead-up to a world event directly impacts early sales. This time was no different. However, now I am delighted to see an increase in demand for packages of the World Cup,” said Neetu Bhatia, Co-Founder and CEO of Kyazoonga.com, in a response to a query by http://www.indianexpress.com

The Indian team maybe on a high for now, but the format of the tournament is such that post the league stage, it is a matter of just one bad day for things to go pear shaped. So a lot is at stake not just in terms of the title defence, but also with regards to the collateral benefits for all involved with the game.