MS Dhoni, the football fan, to promote Premier League in India

Indian cricket captain MahendraSingh Dhoni would be seen promoting his second love, soccer, onSTAR Sports after being roped in as the brand ambassador ofthe upcoming Barclays English Premier League in India.

“A keen soccer enthusiast and a Manchester United fan, MSDhoni will invite all sports fans to ‘Join the Game’ in aclutter breaking integrated marketing campaign which will belaunched early next week. The campaign will have a strongon-air and digital media thrust,” the channel said in arelease.

The campaign has renditions of how Dhoni is alwaysmissing from action and is glued to the TV sets watching BPLevery weekend while his family and friends run around lookingfor him.

[caption id=“attachment_1019675” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The campaign has renditions of how Dhoni is always missing from action and is glued to the TV sets watching BPL every weekend while his family and friends run around looking for him. Getty Images[/caption]

“I am an avid BPL fan and I just played out a realsituation in front of the camera. If I am not busy withcricket, I am always busy with BPL during weekends. Soccer isextremely exciting and very close to my heart. I was a goalkeeper during my school days. Even today, I play soccer as awarm up game ahead of key cricket matches,” said Dhoni.

“I feel that Indian sports fans should consume differenttypes of sports. I want them to be passionate about cricket asthey are, but at the same time one needs to give healthyrespect for other disciplines as well.

“This STAR Sports initiative to provide soccer commentarynow in Hindi will go a long way in making soccer exciting towatch and comprehend for new audiences across the nation.Similar efforts should be done to promote other sports aswell,” he added.

This announcement comes on the back of the sportsbroadcaster announcing the launch of Hindi commentary for thefirst time on BPL. The Hindi commentary will be in addition tothe English commentary and will be available for over 100 livematches across the season.

“We are delighted to have MS Dhoni come on board as thebrand ambassador for BPL in the country. We are targeting toexpand the fan base of BPL in India by leveraging the iconicpower and fan following of MS Dhoni to attract cricket fans tosample BPL,” said Vijay Rajput, Chief Operating Officer, ESPNSoftware India Pvt. Ltd.

PTI