Yards - Indian Cricket World Cup Stars Just Do It With Nike

Yards - Indian Cricket World Cup Stars Just Do It With Nike

Nike has launched “Yards,” its next Nike Cricket TV spot.  The new short brings to life the Just Do It attitude that exists throughout street cricket across India. It seamlessly captures the relationship between the raw street-style of cricket played by youth all over India and the bold, best-of-class cricket played by Team India itself. The 60 second clip takes the viewer on a visual journey by bringing to light the spirit and the passion of the game while showcasing the connection between the two styles of play. At center stage of “Yards” are the heroes of street cricket: the local youth who live and claim their 22 yards all over India.

“Yards” offers an interplay of scenes that shows how the game feeds off the street and how the street feeds off the game. The spot opens with a neighborhood kid preparing to bowl.  Anticipation builds as images of kids in different settings cut seamlessly to athletes from Team India preparing for a match. Crowds hang on to every ball bowled and every swing. Quickly switching from gully cricket play to match play, there is intensity of the game that is felt on the streets, on terraces, and in the stadiums, from the fans to the players, uniting them all. The ad includes Team India athletes Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, S.Sreesanth, M.S. Dhoni, and Yuvraj Singh.

By vividly depicting how both street cricketers and national team athletes create their own stadiums wherever they choose to chart out their 22 yards, “Yards” expands the story told by athletes in Nike’s previous “Bleed Blue Athlete Pledge” TV spot launched last week during quarter final play. The ad is not just about cricket but rather cricket in India, distinctive from the rest of the world. In India, cricket unites everyone around the hope the sport offers and the knowledge that the street cricketers of today are the heroes who will guide the game tomorrow.

“Cricket is more than just a sport in India. It’s more than just about runs scored or games won,” said Sanjay Gangopadhyay, Marketing Director, Nike India Pvt. Ltd., “It is a unifying force that represents dreams fulfilled and barriers broken. Nike’s new “Yards” captures this idea by creating an authentic visual link from the young cricket crazy kids to the sport’s elite athletes. The ad is yet another milestone in Nike’s deep connection to cricket in India and we are confident that it will stir the emotions of ‘Bleed Blue’.”

“Yards” features a dynamic soundtrack inspired by the very sounds that surround the street game in India. Composer and co-founder of Blue Frog Sound Lab, Dhruv Ghanekar, scored the original musical composition.

The ad was directed by Omri Cohen (Hello Robot Films) with creative direction by Senthil Kumar (JWT).

Team India will be seen sporting Nike’s Considered team kits made from recycled plastic bottles in the final this Saturday. Nike, the official apparel sponsor for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), introduced its considered design ethos in Team India’s game day apparel in September 2010. The team began wearing this kit for the first time on pitch this spring.