New Delhi: The first cricket test match between India and Australia is the third highest-rated bilateral test match in the history of BARC in seven years, while match between India and Pakistan, in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, is the second highest-rated women’s T20 match in the last seven years. Over the last 15 months, cricket viewership has grown on television, after a worrying drop during the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year. Asia Cup, India’s bilateral series with both Australia and South Africa, and now the Border Gavaskar series, all have seen a marked improvement in viewership. TRENDING STORIES See All Premium Pakistan desperate for $6. 5 billion dollar IMF loan; ci . . . Premium Former President Pratibha Patil's husband Devisingh She . . . Premium Insurtech firm Turtlefin acquires Last Decimal to boost . . . Premium PSU multibagger defence stock gets an upgrade from brok . . . “Cricket viewership on TV continues to be robust. This test match is the third most watched bilateral test match in the last five years, only behind two India-England test matches, of which one was a day and night match," Sanjog Gupta, head, sports at Disney Star told Mint. The first test match of the ongoing 2023 Border-Gavaskar trophy was among the top five most-watched test matches since 2018, the data claims. The first test between India and Australia registered a 43% increase in the Average Minute Audience (7. 3 million), compared with the first test between India and England played in 2021. Marketing campaigns and programming have helped drive this growth, he said. Gupta said that India-Pakistan match of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is the second most-watched match, following the India-Australia final of the T20 World Cup. “Both these are events of stature. When such things come along, especially in live sports, it automatically lends itself to higher viewing. " The company said it aired all the games of the Indian women’s team which it played live before the world cup and that potentially contributed to the increase in the viewership. Gupta expects these ratings to remain till the IPL. “Sporting events are high on stature, and communal viewing and the immediacy factor making them ideal to watch on TV. Viewing on TV also allows fans to calibrate attention/involvement and manage distractions. This seamless, lean-back experience means that the average duration of viewing sessions on TV is longer than on smaller screens," he said. MORE FROM THIS SECTION See All Premium Premium Women's T20 World Cup: Australia defeats India in semif . . . Premium Premium Wasim Akram kicks chair after Karachi Kings lose match: . . . Premium Premium Viacom18 Sports to broadcast tennis tournament Bengalur . . . Premium Premium IPL team Mumbai Indians expands online merchandise shop Last year, as per BARC subscriber data, both the Asia Cup 2022 as well as the India-Australia series had garnered about 13% more viewership than similar tournaments. The India-South Africa series saw an even bigger spurt of 30% from when the two played each other in June. There was serious viewership fatigue in the IPL in 2022, with 30-35% fewer viewers in initial matches, as per the BARC data. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Varuni Khosla Varuni Khosla is a journalist with close to 14 years of experience in writing business news stories for mainstream newspaper companies like Mint and The Economic Times. She reports and writes on luxury and lifestyle brands, hospitality and tourism news, the business of sports, the business of advertising and marketing and alcohol brands. Read more from this author Catch all the Sports News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News . More Less OPEN IN APP.