“Nike says it is amongst their best Nike commercials of all time. In dealer conferences in the US, they are showing this ad at the beginning and at the end. It may later be shown in the UK and elsewhere also,” says Dias.

While there have been quite a few links to Nike’s first ever cricket commercial, finally, Rediff does a more in-depth story about how it call came together.

Agnello Dias, a Senior Vice President and Executive Creative Director at J Walter Thompson was responsible for making the commercial a reality. He says:

“For all of us who have played cricket on the streets, we know we have to play a quick game — to bowl or strike the ball — before the next car comes by,” says Dias. “The game in the ad is being played in a traffic jam and captures the chaos and disorder of an everyday cricket field in India, where there could be 21 matches being played at the same time!”

I think the ad does a great job of communicating the chaos. It also does a great job conveying the passion that people in India have for cricket. A game can start at any time. Anyone is up for it if they have 5 minutes. One of my closest friend’s brother was a bowler who trained at MRF Pace Foundation, trying to make the Tamil Nadu state team. I remember when he’d come back from practice and all the little kids in the colony would beg him to play street cricket in the cul-de-sac. He’d steal a quick glance to make sure his parents weren’t monitoring him and he’d run out to play with them.

The music is fun. I wish I could get a “song” length version. Maybe Nike could loop it a couple of times and put it out as an MP3?

Featuring a Konkani song in the ad was Dias’ idea. He shared the idea with ad filmmaker Abhinay Deo and made him hear Konkani music on his car stereo while eating vada pao in Kalbadevi, south Mumbai. Dias wrote the lyrics and the song is loosely based on an old Goan song.

Other little tidbits about the commercial

• Where it was shot: On a set in Karjat, near Bombay
• Time taken to compose the track: The initial composition took around two days. The final track was finished in 2 hours.
• Time to shoot: One month (!!) Wow, that’s longer than some movies!
• India’s bowlers Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan play cameos in the ad and are not the star attractions

The World Cup Opening Ceremonies are on as I type this. Can’t wait for it to get going. I love cricket!!!

And if you haven’t watched the ad, here it is. Do you think it is the best Nike commercial ever?