Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 opening match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has broken all the previous records of viewership. The season opener of the 13th edition of the league was watched by record-breaking 20 crore people.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah shared the viewership record on his official Twitter account. He quoted the survey of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) which stated that the match between MI and CSK has recorded the highest ever opening day viewership for any sporting league in any country.
IPL 2020, after passing through all the obstacles in its way, finally kicked off from 19th September with the match between MI and CSK where the latter registered the victory by five wickets.
Earlier, the most-watched league was scheduled to begin from 29th March but the outbreak of the unprecedented coronavirus postponed the league. BCCI got the window to reschedule it in September after ICC postponed the T20 World Cup 2020, which was scheduled from October to November in New Zealand, to next year. But the Indian board had to take the league outside India because of rising cases at home.
Finally, UAE was decided as the venue for hosting IPL 2020. But the CSK camp didn’t remain untouched from the virus. 13 personnel, including two players, tested positive of the virus. However, before one week of the start of IPL, CSK players reports turned negative. Even, Ruturaj Gaikwad has also tested negative of the virus after being quarantined for over a month.
After passing all the hurdles in its way, the league has begun and fans have got the chance to watch the Indian cricketers in the field.
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It turned out to be a happy affair for all MS Dhoni fans as CSK kickstarted their campaign with a five-wicket win over defending champions MI. After restricting the Mumbai-based franchise to 162, Ambati Rayudu (71) and Faf du Plessis (58 not out) helped CSK over the line.
Neutral cricket fans too had a good time as the match remained evenly poised till the 19th over, before du Plessis sealed the game by smashing Trent Boult for two boundaries off the first two balls.
While MS Dhoni will once again lead his boys out tonight against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Sharjah, MI have their next game against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) tomorrow in Abu Dhabi.