Dream11 pitches horrible alternative careers for India’s cricket stars

The new campaign insists it is better to follow your dream than end up in the wrong profession.

It is one thing to see wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant dole out pep talks to teammates and sledge opponents from behind the wicket. To see him perform at a gazal event in a similar fashion is downright horrifying.

Such dystopian scenarios are part of Dream11’s new campaign that first hit TV screens during the ad breaks of the India-Pakistan match at the ongoing men’s T20 cricket world cup in Australia.

The fantasy gaming app, like Pant, shows the alternative careers of Pandya as a barber and Sharma as a baker. All three cricketers are plain useless in these new professions and it only goes to show, as per Dream 11, why one must follow their dreams.

The ad rates for the India-Pakistan clash, as per Business Standard in August 2022, were pegged at Rs 14-15 lakh per ten seconds. On digital, media buyers, as per the paper, said Disney-Star pegged ad rates at a cost per thousand impressions (CPM) of about Rs 270-280 for the India-Pakistan match.

Moneycontrol.com says the clash between the Indian subcontinent rivals drew 16 million or 1.6 crore viewers on Disney+Hotstar, the highest viewership on digital so far.

Dream11 is one of 21 partners of the ongoing men’s T20 cricket world cup.