The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to do away with the traditional opening ceremony and went ahead for the first match of the World Cup in Ahmedabad on October 5.
(Photo:IANS)
Bollywood playback singers Shankar Mahadevan, Arijit Singh and Sukhwinder Singh, along with a host of film stars are reportedly expected to dazzle at the special ceremony of the World Cup before the Indian team takes the field against arch-rivals Pakistan in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to do away with the traditional opening ceremony and went ahead for the first match of the World Cup in Ahmedabad on October 5.
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The World Cup opening ceremony was initially planned for October 4, with a 7 PM (local) start time, soon after a ‘Captains’ Day event at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. While the Captains’ Day event still went ahead, no opening ceremony was held.
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Now that the BCCI has planned a ceremony, the event could witness the presence of golden ticket holders in Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and superstar Rajnikanth alongside batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar. The superstars have already been given the World Cup ‘Golden Ticket’ a few days ago by BCCI secretary Jay Shah personally.
A temporary 40×36 metre stage has been set up for the performance, and those involved in the process of building and dismantling the temporary stage will have 15 minutes to clear the area for the two openers to walk into the field once either side takes the decision during the toss.
The BCCI had earlier allocated an additional 14,000 tickets for the high-octane India-Pakistan clash due to soaring demand. Given that the Narendra Modi Stadium has a seating capacity of over a lakh, a sold-out crowd is expected for what promises to be a cracker of a contest on Saturday.
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