Former Indian cricket head coach, Ravi Shastri’s fondness for alcohol is well known. Shastri himself has never shied away from acknowledging that a good brew of beer is good enough to lift his spirits! But this has also led him to be the butt of trolls and a source of many memes on social media on numerous occasions in the past. Cashing in on this premise, Cred’s latest and probably the final ad spot for this IPL, celebrates and reinforces this image of Shastri as Indian cricket’s ‘King of good times’. And the internet is loving it!

A day prior to the campaign launch, Ravi Shastri set the internet abuzz by sharing speculative pics of him partying away (which we now know are shots from the ad film) with suggestive captions such as: ‘Good mornings are optional if you haven't slept at all’, or ‘My family lives in Mumbai and I live in the moment.’ And even bizarre tweets like ‘Mujhe kya mein toh chill hun’ and suspicious sounding ones like: ‘I’m in a good mood today, ask me anything. #AskRavi ‘

Sharing the brand film with a hilarious ‘Don't remember any of this’ caption, Shastri even went on to update his Twitter bio to ‘Happy Hours always ’ followed by a ‘cheers’ emoji.

Don't remember any of this. pic.twitter.com/xDppHjE0iz

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) May 21, 2022

The film showcases the former coach in a badass, snazzy avatar, and further drives in his spirit-loving image, with the comical usage of the popular 'sattar minute' phrase for happy hours, and lines like 'I used to be a batsman, but for you, I can be a keeper', 'Waste mat karo yaar' for popping the bubbly.

Also, Jim Sarabh seems to have retired well and truly from the brand’s films, with his signature line taken up by the celebrity himself- in this instance Shastri- spouting lines like, "Being Ravi Shastri is fun. But not as fun as paying your credit card bills on Cred and getting rewards!”

The writing is credited to the AIB team of Tanmay Bhat, Devaiah Bopanna, Puneet Chadha, among others. The Twitterati, of course, lapped it up, with even his former coaches and team India cricketers joining in the fun and banter surrounding the video. Indian Cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal responded to the film with a tweet saying: Ravi Shastri gave the best '70 minute' speech ever.

Addressing the senior cricketer, ‘Ravi sir’, cricketer Shubman Gill called it “Dawn of a new era”.

Meanwhile, television and cricket presenter, Gaurav Kapur, known for being the host of the pre-match Indian Premier League show, Extraaa Innings T20 and Cricbuzz Live jumped in, saying, “I can personally vouch for the fact that evenings with the champ are as much fun as this”, following it with partying emojis.

I can personally vouch for the fact that evenings with the Champ are as much fun as this#CREDad https://t.co/yTsIZkZEyn

— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) May 21, 2022

Cred shared the video on YouTube with the accompanying, fun message purportedly from the senior cricketer: “As Ravi Shastri, I want to make it very clear that all my parties are invite-only. But I admire our youth and their potential, so if you’re able to do all of the following, you’re automatically on the guest list.”

It went on to add five pointers for ‘making the cut: “1. Open beer bottles with a bat. If you ask how, you’re already out. 2. Analyse footage from the party to see where drinks were wasted 3. Bartend 24x7 4. Carry an extra case of cough syrup at all times 5. Parallel park the bar-counter If you make the cut, congratulations. You’re never going to remember another night in your life again”.

The caption goes on to make a case for the credit card payment app brand, with the cricketer signing off with: “Believe me, I know what’s fun.”

Gauging from the change in tone and tenor of the latest Cred ‘Play it Different’ ad, from its previous nostalgia-inducing series and before that, the celebrities doing stuff completely uncharacteristic to their personalities – remember the angry Dravid and quirky Kapil Dev films- would this be the beginning of a new series of ad films for the credit card payment brand? One wherein celebrities join in to reiterate and even reinforce their much-maligned image? If so, wonder which other celebrity is going to go next! Wait and watch this space for more…