Google bets on cricket fever to push Gemini with TOI front page ad

Seven days after ICC named Google Gemini as the Official AI Fan Companion and Google Pixel as the Official Smartphone for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, Google has taken over a full front and back jacket of The Times of India newspaper to announce its latest push for Gemini.

Set against a floodlit cricket stadium at dusk, a large smartphone screen displays the Gemini interface with the line, “The one place for all your plays.” A prompt greets the reader, “Hi Cricket fan. Where should we start?” with a tappable suggestion to “Explore cricket.” 

At the bottom, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 India & Sri Lanka logo sits alongside the Google Gemini branding, neatly tying the product to the tournament fever currently gripping the country.

Flip the page, and the jacket turns interactive. Readers are invited to “Explore cricket from every angle” and create their own fan looks to win a trip to a World Cup match. The creative shows Gemini offering match facts, player insights and cricket trivia, reinforcing the idea that the AI assistant can be your digital third umpire, statistician and commentator rolled into one.

There is also an ad film that the brand has launched to promote the contest. The film features cricket commentator Ravi Shastri, and Bollywood director Farah Khan. 

With the T20 World Cup underway, brands are scrambling for attention in a cluttered cricket advertising market dominated by beverage giants, fantasy sports platforms and fintech apps. 

Google’s bet is that AI can ride the same wave of mass interest. Rather than talking abstractly about models and multimodality, it anchors Gemini in a national obsession. In effect, it is saying that if cricket is India’s favourite pastime, Gemini is the new pavilion.

Meanwhile, Gemini’s competitor ChatGPT has found its way of integrating itself into the cricketing ambience of the nation as well. The chatbot’s recent India-facing communication has leaned into utility and practical applications of ChatGPT, even in an athlete’s life. 

A recent ad film from OpenAI shows an aspiring cricketer practising her craft before selectors arrive. Her coach? ChatGPT.

Google, however, is playing the familiarity card. By placing Gemini inside a cricket stadium and inside the country’s largest English daily, it borrows from Google Search’s long association with live scores and match queries. The line “The one place for all your plays” is both a cricket pun and a platform promise. It suggests consolidation at a time when users juggle multiple AI apps.

This is not Google’s first attempt to weave Gemini into everyday Indian contexts. Over the past year, the company has promoted Gemini features across Android devices, integrated it into Pixel marketing, and rolled out campaigns around exam season, festive travel and small business productivity. It has also experimented with on-ground demos at tech and startup events, positioning Gemini as both assistant and co-creator.

In that sense, Google’s cricket jacket is less about sport and more about stakes. AI in India is no longer a niche conversation among technologists. It is front page, tournament-timed and QR-coded for mass participation. And if Gemini can become as instinctive as checking the score at the end of an over, Google may well have found its winning shot.