Hyundai campaign backs women’s cricket ahead of T20 World Cup

MUMBAI: The gloves are off, the boundaries are bigger, and Hyundai wants fans to know women’s cricket is no longer playing in anyone’s shadow. Ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has launched a new campaign featuring brand ambassadors Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues, celebrating the rise of women’s cricket and the growing wave of support behind it.

Building on the success of Hyundai’s men’s T20 World Cup campaign, Deewane India Ka Deewana Humsafar, the latest film takes a different route. Instead of focusing on fandom alone, it shines a spotlight on the athletes redefining the game and the fans rallying behind them.

At the heart of the campaign is a bold message: “We took ‘gentle’ out of the game.” The film challenges the traditional perception of cricket as a “gentleman’s game”, showcasing the intensity, determination and skill that have transformed women’s cricket into one of the fastest-growing forces in global sport.

Through powerful visuals and match-day moments, the campaign captures how players such as Mandhana and Rodrigues are not only rewriting records but also reshaping perceptions. Their performances, the film suggests, are helping fuel a new era of cricket fandom in India.

The campaign arrives at a time when women’s cricket is enjoying unprecedented momentum. From packed stadiums to growing broadcast audiences and increased brand investment, the sport has steadily moved from the sidelines to the centre of the conversation.

For Hyundai, the initiative is part of its wider association with the International Cricket Council (ICC) as a Premier Partner. Alongside the campaign film, the company plans to roll out digital activations and fan engagement initiatives throughout the tournament, aiming to bring supporters closer to the action.

The strategy reflects a broader shift among advertisers, who increasingly view women’s sport as a mainstream cultural platform rather than a niche opportunity. As sponsorship interest grows, brands are looking to align themselves with athletes and competitions that are capturing the imagination of younger and more diverse audiences.

With the Women’s T20 World Cup set to command global attention, Hyundai’s latest campaign taps into a simple truth: the story is no longer about whether women’s cricket belongs on the biggest stage. It’s about how brightly it shines once it gets there.

And if the campaign’s message lands, the future of cricket may not be changing, it may already have changed.