The opening match of the Indian Premier League between the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians registered the highest-ever opening day viewership for any sporting league in the entire world with nearly 20 crore viewers watching it on TV as well as online platforms.

This was confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah who tweeted, "Opening match of #Dream11IPL sets a new record! As per BARC, an unprecedented 20 crore people tuned in to watch the match. Highest ever opening day viewership for any sporting league in any country- no league has ever opened as big as this." People have been anticipating the cash-rich tournament especially this year as it was initially postponed and also since the T20 World Cup was scheduled to happen this year as well. Weeks before IPL 2020 began, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had said that he expected the league to shatter all viewership records this year. "Crowds will watch it on television...they (the broadcasters) are actually expecting the highest rating of IPL this season because they believe if (people) don't turn up in the ground, they will be actually watching on their television sets," Ganguly had said during an online lecture.

Chennai Super Kings kicked off their IPL 2020 campaign with a five-wicket win against Mumbai Indians. CSK are currently on the second position in the points table with a net-run rate of +0.486, while Mumbai Indians have the second lowest points with a NRR of -0.486.

Opening match of #Dream11IPL sets a new record!

As per BARC, an unprecedented 20crore people tuned in to watch the match. Highest ever opening day viewership for any sporting league in any country- no league has ever opened as big as this. @IPL @SGanguly99 @UShanx @DisneyPlusHS

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) September 22, 2020