MUMBAI: The ‘Men in Blue’ have embarked on their quest to bring the ICC T20 World Cup Trophy home next year, beginning with the home season of cricket on Star Sports with South Africa tour of India that started on September 15th. Mission 2020 will showcase all India matches as they prepare for the ultimate championship in Australia, 13 months from now, where they will fight their hardest to bring the ICC T20 World Cup trophy home which they last won 13 years ago.
With the home season of cricket commencing, fans will bear witness to a live cricketing feast with 30 T20 Internationals to be played during the upcoming tours of South Africa, Bangladesh, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Australia to India as well as India’s tour of New Zealand on the Star Sports Network and Hotstar.
Hungry for his first ICC T20 Championship and apart from looking to break his personal jinx of not scoring a century in a T20 Internationals, Captain Kohli will be looking to find the best balance in terms of selecting the best opening combination, pace attack, spinners and all-rounders to face the challenge that will come from some of the world’s best T20 teams. With Dhoni not being a part of the squad, all eyes will be on Rishabh Pant to fill the shoes of one of India’s most successful and admired wicket-keeper batsman. Fans of the ‘Men in Blue’ will also look forward to Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma strengthening their already solid opening combination as the preferred pair for I the upcoming series. Each series preceding the World Cup will be a stepping-stone to build the pool of the fifteen best players that Team India will select for the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup.
The road to Mission 2020 will provide opportunities to newer players like Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, among others to test their mettle and cement their position in the squad for the ICC T20 World Cup.
During the intense home season of cricket live on Star Sports and Hotstar, Captain Kohli will look to achieve a few personal milestones on his way to becoming the greatest of all time. For starters, Virat will look to reclaim the rank of #1 Test Batsman which he recently lost to Steve Smith. In the ODI format of the game, Virat is also only 7 short of reaching the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries. Another record Virat is close to and is 3 away from shattering is Ricky Ponting’s 41 centuries by an International captain.
For the ‘Home Season of Cricket’, breaking away from the norm, Star Sports has launched its campaign which uses animation to create a visual identity and build its narrative. The introduction of animation storytelling surrounding the two most important elements of the game of cricket i.e. bat and ball as humanized characters will establish consistency, mindshare and a high recall for ‘Cricket on Star Sports’. This new campaign will help build awareness and generate a great deal of excitement for each of the upcoming series, beginning with the ongoing South Africa tour of India.
Keeping fans up to date with Mission 2020, Star Sports - the ‘Home of Cricket’ has alluring content, starting 15th September 2019, which includes the live game and exclusive shows around cricket, with cricketers, fans, expert commentators, stadiums and more. Fans will see the return of one of the most engaging feeds on cricket, The Select Dugout. This will bring with it a customized experience that brings fans closer to the game with deeper engagement, detailed analytical and predictive commentary peppered with demos by a well-respected line of experts that include former international stars like Dean Jones, Scott Styris, Mike Hesson, VVS Laxman and Brian Lara.
