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Star Sports announces return of Tata IPL 2022 in its original summer window

The campaign #YehAbNormalHai features MS Dhoni portraying a bus driver's role, in true Rajinikanth style.

Summer is approaching and so is one of the most awaited tournaments. With a brand-new title sponsor and the addition of two new teams, the TATA IPL 2022 returns to its original summer window, from March 26, 2022. Over the years, every season of IPL has witnessed unbelievable moments of thrill and brilliance and has developed a reputation for generating extraordinary and high-octane cricketing moments. The tournament has consistently produced insane, unbelievable, and extraordinary cricketing moments, so much so that fans have come to expect such extraordinary action on a regular basis from TATA IPL. To celebrate all the excitement and the return of TATA IPL 2022 to Indian shores, Star Sports, the official broadcaster of IPL, has launched #YehAbNormalHai campaign featuring MS Dhoni.

With a view to celebrate the IPL summer window, the campaign features cricket legend, MS Dhoni, in a brand-new avatar. Directed by Vasan Bala, a well-known director and screenwriter, the campaign film showcases MS Dhoni as a bus driver, who has stopped the bus in the middle of a very busy road. The traffic policeman arrives at the scene and questions Dhoni’s actions, to which Dhoni responds that they are watching the Super over of an intense IPL game. The traffic policeman treats this as a normal occurrence during IPL and drives away reinstating the fact that this fandom is normal for IPL matches.

Dhoni's style in this ad has close resemblance to superstar Rajinikanth. And its not just his mannerisms, but also the fact that he is playing a bus driver (the actor was a bus conductor before he entered the film industry) and that the cop refers to him as Thalai (the actor is fondly called Thalaiva by his fans).

Speaking about the #YehAbNormalHai campaign ahead of TATA IPL 2022, Sanjog Gupta, head – sports, Disney Star said, "The TATA IPL 2022 campaign seeks to recruit millions of TV viewers and digital users across the country. Structured in four phases, the campaign turns the spotlight on fan frenzy and unique situations typically associated with the tournament as well as the distinct proposition of this year's edition. #YehAbNormalHai adequately represents this, tying it with the social context of people discovering a "new normal" in their lives. The launch phase of the campaign strives to create a sense of excitement for the start of the 15th season, which promises to be the biggest ever."

Keeping in mind the popularity of Tata IPL and the tremendous response received by the fans for MS Dhoni’s new look during the teaser launch, Star Sports will release the campaign film in seven languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Gujarati.

Tata IPL 2022 will begin on March 26, 2022. The 10 teams have been divided into two groups and will play a total of 14 league matches (7 home matches and 7 away matches) totaling 70 league matches, followed by the playoffs and finals.

Fans across India can watch all the action from the TATA IPL 2022, March 26 onwards, LIVE & Exclusive on the Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar

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