As the most-awaited 16th Indian Premier League finally started on Friday, March 31 with the match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the official broadcaster Star Sports Network has collaborated with veteran Indian player Yusuf Pathan to run a campaign to engage viewers in the action for the first game.

Meanwhile, the campaign is named #MySocietyStadium, where the broadcaster’s representatives will be available at selected societies in the home cities of IPL games as well. The veteran cricketer visited many societies in Ahmedabad to join with fans and watch special screenings arranged on the premises as well. However, the society members were so happy that they could meet the two-time world cup winner’s as well.

READ MORE: ‘Could have gone deeper’ – Shubman Gill on his knock

However, the tournament opener was won by the Hardik Pandya-led side, Gujarat Titans as they chased the target with four balls and five wickets to spare as well. While Ruturaj Gaikwad helped CSK post a decent total scoring 92 off 50 balls, it was for the combined efforts of Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill that the hosts were able to seal the deal.

.@iamyusufpathan went around Ahmedabad, visiting society screenings, making each screening even grander! 😍

Want a member of our #IncredibleStarcast to visit your society? Watch this space for more on how you can make this happen!#IPLonStar #MySocietyStadium #BetterTogether pic.twitter.com/hpnIfss1Sd

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 1, 2023

ALSO READ: Viacom18 bags WIPL Media Rights for 5 years

Meanwhile, for the first time television broadcasting and digital streaming rights are taken by two different entities, where Star Sports Network holds broadcast rights, whereas, digital rights are taken by JioCinema as well. However, BCCI, earlier revealed that the digital rights were sold for a whopping sum of INR 23,758 crore, whereas Star Sports acquired rights to televise the tournament for a sum of INR 24,632 crore as well.