Hours before the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) kicked off on April 9, a new advertisement featuring former Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid broke the internet.
Most viewers noted that they saw Dravid in an avatar they had never seen or never expected to see.
In this television commercial, the 48-year-old is seen frustrated and going bonkers in Bengaluru’s infamous traffic. At one point, the veteran cricketer who is well known for his politeness and calm behaviour, is seen proclaiming himself to be “Indiranagar ka gunda” in the advertisement. He is also seen yelling at others in the traffic and breaking another car’s mirror with his cricket bat.
The new CRED commercial was first shared by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli on Twitter. The video went viral on other platforms within an hour. The advertisement drew positive reactions from social media users – many even praising Dravid for his acting skills.Never seen this side of Rahul bhai pic.twitter.com/4W93p0Gk7m
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) April 9, 2021
Dravid’s former IPL team, the Rajasthan Royals, tweeted saying it was one of his “best performances”.
A Twitter user noted that he didn’t think he would enjoy a video of Rahul Dravid “going bonkers in Bangalore traffic this much”.
Restaurant aggregator and food delivery startup Zomato also latched on to the bandwagon, saying that “deliveries in Indiranagar miiight be late today due to an angry gunda on the road (sic)”.
Former Indian cricketer Dodda Ganesh said: “The last time Rahul Dravid shouted like this was, from the Karnataka dressing room, and I was at the receiving end. “Innu ondu Run ide kano””
Many social media users noted that they were watching the video on loop, unable to believe that they were watching 'Jammy' lose his composure.