India is a cricket crazy nation and the cricketers are literally worshipped like heroes. If you win you will be treated like a king but if you fail people will start questioning your place in the team.
Indian cricketers have a huge fan following around the globe. TV commercials also play an important part in shaping the brand image of cricketers. Since the turn of the century, the popularity of commercials have also increased considerably.
From the boost ad with Kapil Dev to Reynold’s pen ad featuring Sachin Tendulkar, every commercial had its own brand appeal. In recent times, Virat Kohli has taken over the baton of acting in different TV commercials and is the richest cricketer in terms of endorsements and sponsorships.
So, here’s a list of 5 hilarious TV commercials featuring current and former Indian cricketers:
1. Tamilian Virat Kohli – Munch ad
In the advertisement, Virat Kohli can be seen as a Tamilian doppelganger of his own. Though his face is similar to Virat Kohli, the same can’t be said about his cricketing talent. As a result, he was rejected by his local team.
However, his luck changed soon. He helped his team avoid a third defeat on the trot by the ‘Crunch of his Munch’. He soon becomes a fan favourite and also manages to find a place in the team. The ad ends with “Mera crunch mahaan”.
2. Tamilian MS Dhoni (Pepsi- “Yeh hain youngistaan meri jaan”)
In the advertisement, MS Dhoni is seen speaking in a Tamilian accent, delivering hilarious dialogues. In the beginning, Dhoni can be heard saying that he is from Jharkhand. However, Tamilian Dhoni comes into the fray immediately, delivering hilarious dialogues.
The dialogue goes like: “Iam Ias Dhoni from Chennai, mind it. All you fast bowlers rascala, I have the bat, do you have the ball?”. After that, he can be seen drinking his Pepsi in a superhero style. The ad ends with “Yeh hain youngistaan meri jaan, Mind it”.
3. Sachin Tendulkar and Shahrukh Khan (Pepsi ad- Yeh Dil Maange More)
At the beginning of the TV commercial, Shahrukh Khan is seen searching for a Pepsi but is prohibited by the security standing in front of the Indian dressing room gate. So, he thinks of a plan to get inside and comes in dressed up like Tendulkar.
Shahrukh manages to fool the security, that lets him get inside the Indian dressing room. He takes a Pepsi can from the refrigerator keeping his face away from the team members. However, the then skipper Mohammad Azharuddin comes in and asks him to get padded up as he is the next man in.
Shahrukh without any option gets padded up. But, as he was about to enter the field, he sees the original Sachin Tendulkar standing near the ground. He thinks he has got away with his shenanigans and offers Sachin the bat but instead Tendulkar takes the Pepsi can from him and walks away from there smiling.
2. Rahul Dravid “Jammy” (Kissan Jam)
Rahul Dravid was the talk of the town recently following his appearance in a CRED ad. Dravid, who is known for his calmness and composure, can be as seen as “Indranagar ka Gunda”.
Most cricket lovers must be aware of the fact that Rahul Dravid’s nickname is ‘Jammy’. In this commercial, Rahul can be seen trying to steal jam and gets caught by his mother. To fool his mother, he dressed up as a girl and rang the doorbell asking for jam.
The next time he came dressed up as a monk and asked his mother for the same. Though he did manage to fool his mother in the first two instances, he wasn’t lucky the 3rd time around. As he came prepared as a “Dracula”, his false tooth fell off and he got caught.
1. Indian Team ( Pepsi- Yeh Dil Maange More)
In this commercial, the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan can be seen having a practice session in a jungle in South Africa.
Harbhajan gets out after playing a loose shot that prompts Ganguly to call for a drinks break. Except for Harbhajan, all other players went for a drinks break only to be bemused after seeing a lion sleeping in front of the Pepsi chiller.
Yuvraj urges Ganguly to go as he is the “ Bengal Tiger”. He asks Dravid to accompany him and as the duo was about to take the Pepsi bottles, Harbhajan’s massive six hits the lion on his head.
The players somehow manage to escape from the scene with the Pepsi chiller. The ad ends with Harbhajan running from the opposite end asking Sourav “Dada Dada mera chhakka dekha” (Dada did you see my six?) to which Ganguly responds: Superb! Go and get the ball back!
