MUMBAI: A new record was set during Sunday's Indian Premier League final between Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings. While Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga were struggling to take Mumbai Indians to the victory tape, Star India's streaming service Hotstar notched up a new high of 18.6 million concurrent viewers.

The number of viewers throughout the finals was at between 8 million and 12 million, but audiences just logged on by the millions to the now Disney-owned Hotstar to catch the breathtaking action as Shane Watson kept belting the Mumbai bowlers out of the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. 

The number shot up to 16 million around the seventeenth over and then simply pole-vaulted to 18.6 million between the 18th and 19th overs only to slip back to 18.3 million concurrent viewers as the 20th over rolled on.

The team at Hotstar must be celebrating as this is the highest number of concurrent users the super streamer has registered in its history.

Says a media observer: “The engineering of Hotstar has been taken in-house and it keeps on setting new records for concurrent viewers for a live event. Clearly, chief product officer Varun Narang is doing something right.”

The incredible rise of Hotstar saw it garner 267 million within the first three weeks of the tournament itself. This included a 12.7 million concurrent viewership on March 28 during the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.

Prior to that, the service was used by 11.2 million concurrent viewers during the India-New Zealand T20 match in February.

With a new record set by Hotstar, the team is likely to set its sights even further with the upcoming ICC World Cup. With India scheduled to play Pakistan, it wouldn't be a surprise if Hotstar breaches the 20 million mark during the high-octane clash.