A banned women's cricket team. A video game. And 1.8 million people who refused to look away.
THE CONTEXT
They announced a dream. Then they crushed it.
In November 2020, Afghanistan announced its first-ever women's national cricket team, 25 players with a shot at the world stage.
Nine months later, the Taliban took Kabul.
Women were banned from all sports. Especially cricket. A Taliban spokesperson told Hindustan Times that Islam "does not allow women to play cricket or play the kind of sports where they get exposed.
Twenty-five careers. Over, overnight. Dreams of thousands of small girls who aspire to be like them, vanished.
The players fled the country. Their team was erased. And the world moved on to the next headline.
THE TENSION
The match that never happened.
India, one of the biggest countries for women's cricket, wanted to respond. But this wasn't a problem that a hashtag or a social post could solve. The players couldn't play. The country wouldn't let them. The world had already looked away.
The question wasn't how to raise awareness. It was: how do you put a banned team back on the pitch?
THE IDEA
If they can't play in real life, they'll play in the game.
We partnered with Global Esports, India's largest esports organization, and Cricket 19, the official game of the Ashes and the most popular cricket video game in the world.
And we recreated the banned Afghan women's cricket team. Digitally. Player by player.
Roya Samim. Najiba Samim. Maryam Naiza. Every player who had been erased from the sport was rebuilt inside the game, their names, their likenesses, their team.
Australia vs. Afghanistan. The final.
April 4, 2022. Live on Steam, the world's largest PC gaming platform.
Not a simulation. A statement.
THE EXECUTION
From a video game to primetime news.
The match was livestreamed on Steam to a global audience. No ticket gates. No broadcast rights. Just a link and a reason to show up.
Word spread — first among gamers, then cricket fans, then mainstream media. What started as an esports event became a global act of protest.
THE IMPACT
1.8 million people showed up.
Then something changed.
1.8 million people joined the protest.
1.3 million watched the livestream — 10× the capacity of the largest cricket stadium in the world.
The eProtest became primetime news across international media.
And 13 days after the match, something happened that no one expected.
Ramaswami Venkatesh, Chairman of Cricket Hong Kong, reached out directly:
Next time you're in a tournament or a tour, I'll be happy to put Roya's details on it.
A team that was banned from the sport was invited back to the pitch.
Impact
Overview
Year
2022
Client
Global Esports × Cricket 19
AGENCY
Dentsu Isobar (now Dentsu Creative India)
Role
Main Ideation, Concept, & Art Direction
TEAM
Scope of work
Concept Development
Art Direction
Campaign Identity
Digital Player Recreation
Ads
Livestream Creative Direction
Social & PR Amplification