The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2023–2024
Dream11 makes sign language India's newest cricket language — Abby 2025 Media Grand Prix
For 63M hearing-impaired fans, Dream11 and Star Sports put sign-language interpreters inside live cricket broadcasts.
Dream11
What it had to solve
Cricket commentary is India's shared language, but deaf viewers could not experience it; Dream11 wanted a media idea that made inclusion central, not an add-on.
How it works
Cricket in India is a shared language, yet its live commentary was inaccessible to the roughly 63 million Indians with hearing impairment. Dream11 and media agency Wavemaker reframed the problem: instead of a sponsorship or CSR message, they proposed sign language as 'India's newest local language' — a real broadcast language for the sport's biggest stages.
With Star Sports, interpreters were embedded into live coverage of the ODI World Cup 2023, IPL 2024 and ICC T20 World Cup 2024, and 18 Dream11 films were interpreted into sign language across four languages. The work was endorsed by the captains of the Indian and Mumbai Deaf Cricket teams; one described feeling 'truly included' during India's T20 World Cup victory, and the campaign took the only Grand Prix of the Media Abby 2025 at Goafest.
Why it lands
- The excluded audience was huge and structural: 63 million people left out of a national passion.
- Sign language as a 'local language' reframed accessibility as a medium innovation, not charity.
- Live embedding made inclusion real-time and unmissable, not a token gesture.
- Deaf cricket community leaders were part of the story, giving the work credibility.
What it did
A first-of-its-kind inclusive viewing experience for millions of deaf fans, endorsed by Indian Deaf Cricket Team captains; won the only Media Grand Prix at Abby 2025.
What you can take
The strongest inclusive idea treats accessibility as part of the product experience — built into the live event, not bolted on as a charity gesture.
Since then
The initiative became a benchmark for inclusive sports broadcasting in India, positioned Dream11 as a category leader in inclusive communication, and the format remains available for future marquee cricket tournaments.
Sources
- How Sign Language Became the New Sound of Indian Cricket — WPP Media case study
- Abbys 2025: Wavemaker bags 'Media Agency of the Year' — full winners list
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