Sony LIV rolls out Sunil Grover-led cricket campaign ‘Har Screen Par Cricket, Sony Ke Saath’

MUMBAI: Every Indian office knows the affliction, one eye on the spreadsheet, the other on the scoreboard, productivity quietly collapsing every time India walks out to bat. Sony LIV has decided to weaponise that shared national experience rather than fight it, roping in Grover for a new campaign, Har Screen Par Cricket, Sony Ke Saath, that skewers the eternal tug of war between the working day and the cricket calendar.

The premise is deliciously simple. Grover plays a corporate boss so alarmed by the coming four months of cricket that he treats it as an existential threat to the business, summoning employees for crisis talks and arriving at a solution too extreme for any self-respecting cricket fan to accept. It is workplace comedy built on a joke every viewer has lived through, which is precisely why it should land.

The timing is not incidental either. India’s cricket calendar over the next four months is genuinely relentless, beginning with the tour of Sri Lanka from August 15, running through the DP World Women’s Asia Cup 2026 and its blockbuster India versus Pakistan fixture on September 5, continuing into India and Pakistan’s clash at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 from September 17, before closing out with India’s tour of New Zealand from October 22. That is an extraordinary density of marquee cricket, and Sony LIV is betting that the sheer volume gives the campaign’s central joke months of continued relevance rather than a one-week shelf life.

Iyer, head of marketing at Sony LIV, explained the thinking behind casting Grover in the role. “For the next four months, cricket will compete with meetings, deadlines and spreadsheets for attention. That was the starting point for the campaign. We wanted to have some fun with a situation almost every cricket fan has experienced. Sunil Grover could play the intimidating boss while still making the audience laugh, which made him the natural choice for the film. And even if his character wants cricket kept out of the office, fans will find it on Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV, wherever they are.”

Grover himself sounded genuinely enthused about the cricketing calendar the campaign is built around. “As a cricket fan, the next four months across Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV are going to be absolute heaven. With four massive cricketing events lined up, from India’s tours of Sri Lanka and New Zealand to the Women’s T20 Asia Cup and cricket at the Asian Games, it is a dream for anyone who lives for the game. I can’t wait for fans to catch all the action on television or stream it live on Sony LIV!”

The broader strategy here is shrewd. Sony LIV is not simply advertising a cricket calendar, it is dramatising the exact behavioural conflict that keeps casual fans checking scores mid-meeting, and then offering itself as the solution across every screen, television, mobile and desktop alike. With comedy this relatable fronted by a performer as sharp as Grover, the campaign looks well positioned to cut through India’s increasingly crowded festive and sporting content calendar.