IPL 2025: The game, the stars, the ads—Cricket season is here!

The biggest cricket carnival of the year is back! IPL 2025 is all set to begin on March 22, 2025, and what better way to build up the excitement than with some star-studded, blockbuster ad campaigns?

This year’s tournament kicks off with a clash between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). As the excitement builds, a series of star-studded promotional campaigns by Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the game, have hit the airwaves, each adding its own flavour to the IPL fever.

Here's a curated list of some standout ads that have caught our attention:

1. The shy bride

One would expect a newlywed bride to be shy, right? But this one takes it to the next level—she keeps her ghoonghat (veil) on all the time. Whether she’s sitting with her family, posing for photos, or even with her husband, she remains hidden.

But the moment Rohit Sharma appears on TV, her veil drops for the first time! The entire family watches in shock as her face reveals itself. The punchline? "Jab Sharma-aave, tab sharam jaave!" (When Sharma appears, all shyness disappears!)

2. The battle of punchlines

What happens when legendary commentators known for their epic one-liners face off against top cricketers who are tired of hearing them?

In this ad, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Aakash Chopra, and Ravi Kishan bring their signature taglines, only to find Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and MS Dhoni unimpressed. The cricketers demand fresh punchlines, claiming that if players are evolving, so should the commentators! Challenge accepted!

Will Sidhu Paaji and team step up their game? The battle of words is on!

3. A mother's late-night cricket fever

This one will tug at your heartstrings.

A woman stays up late at night, watching cricket, while her husband grumbles about wanting to sleep. When he asks her why she’s suddenly into cricket, she says she just wants to finish watching the "duper" over. (She means super over!)

She’s not a die-hard fan; she just wants to have a topic to talk about with her son, who lives far from home. She knows that those extra five minutes of cricket talk might just mean extra time spent with him. And just like that, her husband joins in too—hoping for a few more minutes with their son.

4. Is number 18 a lucky sign for Bengaluru?

Virat Kohli walks into a café. Everything around him—table numbers, bills, even latte art on his coffee—has the number 18 on it. Coincidence? Or is the 18th season of IPL about to be a lucky one for RCB?

As the face of Bengaluru cricket, is this a sign that Virat and RCB are destined for glory this year?

5. How Many IPL Titles? It's time for a tattoo!

What do Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rohit Sharma have in common? Titles!

The three Mumbai Indians (MI) players joke about getting tattoos for every IPL trophy they’ve won—but how many will they need?

Suryakumar Yadav? 4 tattoos?
Hardik Pandya? 6 tattoos?
Rohit Sharma? 7 tattoos?!

There is no doubt that the ink will not dry anytime soon!

 6. The GOAT vs the YOAT

MS Dhoni is back, and this time, he’s teasing Sanju Samson about his team selection.

“Are you seriously letting a 13-year-old play?” Dhoni asks.
Sanju’s response? Watch the ad to find out—it’s a comeback you won’t see coming!

 7. Mumbai Indians bring in the OG Bhidu!

Mumbai Indians (MI) have launched their new campaign, PlayLikeMumbai, and they’ve brought in Bollywood’s OG Jackie Shroff as their Spirit Coach. With his classic Bambaiya swag, Jackie Bhidu is here to pump up the MI Paltan. From Bhai (Hardik Pandya) and Bhidu (Rohit Sharma) to Dada (Suryakumar Yadav) and Boss (Jasprit Bumrah)—Jackie is here to make sure Mumbai plays with style and attitude!

From laugh-out-loud humour to heartwarming family moments and electrifying team spirit, this year’s IPL is shaping up to be bigger, crazier, and more entertaining than ever.

And we know one thing for sure—come March 22, all eyes will be glued to the screen!

The TATA IPL 2025 will be live-streamed exclusively on the JioHotstar mobile app for both Android and iPhone users and on Star Sports. Unlike previous seasons, a JioHotstar subscription is now required to watch the matches. The platform offers multiple pricing tiers, and Jio users can access it through limited-time recharge packs.