First-Ever Pink Ball Test In India Viewed By 43 Million People: BARC

Sourav Ganguly, the pioneer for the first-ever pink ball Test in India, made sure that the event was a success. He invited Bangladesh prime minister to watch the contest, to which she obliged. It was one one the key decisions Ganguly took after taking office as the BCCI president.

India’s participation in the pink ball Test came after they denied playing the same against Australia Down Under. But in anticipation of the match, entire Kolkata was decked up in pink, even the sondesh — a well known sweet in India — took the pink colour.

43 million people watched the pink-ball Test

According to a report in IANS, 43 million people watched the historic contest with two billion viewing minutes, the highest the highest viewership for a first day of any Test match played over 2018-19, the BARC has said.

Beyond cricket, the most watched sports in 2019 were kabaddi, wrestling and football. Together, they consumed 85% of viewing minutes of non-cricket events.

Sports channels saw a growth of 17% (viewing minutes) over 2018.