IPL 2017 set to Host Eight Opening Ceremonies

The IPL enters its tenth edition this year in 2017. To celebrate the anniversary, the competition will be hosting not one, but eight opening ceremonies. The organisers made the announcement on 3rd April 2017.

There will be an opening ceremony for each of the eight franchises before they play their first game. The IPL aims to include all of its fans in these momentous ceremonies.

Speaking to Cricketnext, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said: “It would be unfair to say it was my idea. All the members sat together and decided to have separate opening ceremonies across all the host cities.

“This will give the fans an opportunity to witness the opening of the 10th edition of the IPL live.”

The chairman also revealed more details about the eight opening ceremonies. Explaining more about the rationale behind the idea, Rajiv Shukla said:

“The various segments of the ceremony will be on our culture, the culture and tradition of the host cities as also highlighting the high points from the last nine editions of the tournament. We will also have performances from Bollywood stars.”

Reports say that each opening ceremony will play host to a different Bollywood celebrity. IPL fans can expect to see famous legends at the events. In previous years, stars such as Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have performed.

This time, however, a younger crowd are expected to perform at the eight ceremonies.

2017’s confirmed appearances so far will include Amy Jackson at Hyderabad on 5th April 2017 and Riteish Deshmukh at Pune on 6th April 2017. Tiger Shroff will perform at Rajkot and Parineeti Chopra will appear at the New Delhi ceremony on 7th April and 15th April 2017 respectively.

Finally, Shraddha Kapoor and Monail Thakur will appear at the Kolkata ceremony on 13th April 2017.

The opening ceremonies promise to add buzz and life to the IPL as it enters its tenth year. But the tournament may well be missing some of its star attractions in the opening weeks.

Cricketers Ravi Ashwin, Virat Kohli, Umesh Yadav and Ravi Jadeja will miss the beginning of the tournament due to injury. However, Kohli, Yadav and Jadeja will take part later on in the tournament.

Eight opening ceremonies for eight teams. A bold move by the IPL, but they are sure to be exciting events themselves. Whether they add or take away from the main event remains to be seen.