Mumbai: The league phase of the 2026 T20 World Cup reinforced Nepal’s emergence as a fast-growing market for cricket after it was ranked third on the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s digital platforms.
“It has been particularly encouraging to see Nepal enter our top three markets for the first time, underlining the passion and momentum behind their team,” ICC Head of Digital, Finn Bradshaw told HT.
Momentum soared for the Nepali cricket team in their second consecutive T20 World Cup appearance, even though their on-field advance was steady at best. Nepal could not sustain the momentum after their bright start where they gave former winners England a scare to begin their campaign. Nepal lost meekly to Italy and West Indies before beating Scotland to earn their only points in the league stage.
Instadia attendance for World Cup matches featuring Nepal, all played in Mumbai, was also encouraging with over 75,000 lively spectators attending these four matches. Over 5,60,000 spectators attended the league stage matches in India alone, Sri Lanka was a co-host.
In Nepal’s return to T20 World Cup cricket in the 2024 edition - they previously qualified in 2014 - their growing following first came to the fore with three of the top five most-watched matches on ICC’s free stream featuring Nepal, only behind India-Pakistan and India-Australia. The ICC free live stream is for those geographical territories where they have no exclusive media rights deal. In the ongoing edition, alongside the English language world feed, the ICC free stream also carried Nepali commentary for matches involving Nepal.
{{/usCountry}}In Nepal’s return to T20 World Cup cricket in the 2024 edition - they previously qualified in 2014 - their growing following first came to the fore with three of the top five most-watched matches on ICC’s free stream featuring Nepal, only behind India-Pakistan and India-Australia. The ICC free live stream is for those geographical territories where they have no exclusive media rights deal. In the ongoing edition, alongside the English language world feed, the ICC free stream also carried Nepali commentary for matches involving Nepal.
{{/usCountry}}A massive surge of fans was also seen at giant screenings of the England-Nepal match in Kathmandu where Nepal fell 4 runs short of beating England in Mumbai.
Watching Nepal’s impressive showing against England, former South African pace legend Dale Steyn offered his services. “Nepal. I offer my services to you if you ever need em! Up, up and UP,” he wrote on X.
Among other lead markets outside of the number-one market India, Pakistan ranks second. “The expanded 20-team format has delivered a genuinely global digital footprint. Our top six markets for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 are India, Pakistan, Nepal, the UK, USA and UAE, which reflects both the traditional strength of the sport and its continued growth in newer territories,” said Bradshaw.
Many traditional cricket markets like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies did not rank favourably in digital response to the event, indicative of a lack of buzz for the World Cup in those regions.
Among ICC’s highest-performing digital content, Usman Tariq’s bowling, Pathum Nissanka’s catch to dismiss Glenn Maxwell, Tony Munyonga’s catch against Australia have done well other than a host of viral content featuring the Indian team.