It was time for the owners of the Mantri KPL to hand over their little baby to the people of Karnataka,” said Brijesh Patel, secretary of the KSCA. And what better way was to do that than to launch a star-studded anthem, capturing the true spirit of the State and its association with the much-loved game — cricket.

The three-minute video featured more than 20 celebrities like Puneeth Rajkumar, Shivrajkumar, Diganth, Sharmila Mandre, Aindrita Ray, Bhavana and cricketers like Sunil Joshi, Manish Pandey and Stuart Binny. Composed by music director and ad-jingle producer, Ricky Kej, the video was shot at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“I enjoyed being a part of the video. It was a fun experience and now watching it sure seems that it has been transferred onto the screen as well,” said Aindrita Ray who launched the video. Also present was Ricky Kej who said that the soul inspiration for the video was Karnataka itself. “I have tried to capture the spirit of the State, the sound of the various folklores and bring in the energy that the game has, for the anthem,” he added. Apart from the starry presence, the video also features glimpses of the gully cricket and at the same time highlights all the regions represented by the franchises. Making it the soul of the tournament, Brijesh Patel, said, “It is a very peppy and youthful number that is sure to catch on very soon among the youngsters and cricket lovers.” 

Hoping that the video will connect with the cricketing enthusiasts, Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar said, “Mantri KPL is a tournament of Karnataka, by Karnataka and for Karnataka and I am happy that the anthem has captured the authenticity of Kannada flavour and conveys the spirit of the game.”