Jacqueline Fernandez will be reportedly performing at IPL 2018 opening ceremony. (Source: PTI)
The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League is set to kick start on April 7 but before the cash-rich league starts, Bollywood stars like Ranveer Singh, Parineeti Chopra, Varun Dhawan and Jacqueline Fernandez will reportedly be performing at the opening ceremony. The ceremony is expected to run for around ninety minutes in Mumbai and will end around 7:15 pm, 15 minutes prior to toss.
While the Bollywood stars will lighten up the evening, on the other side, only two captains MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma will be attending the ceremony as the first match is scheduled to take place between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
Mumbai Indians are the defending champions as they lifted the trophy for the third time in 2017. CSK on the other side are making a return back after they facing a two-year ban on themselves. CSK skipper Dhoni was the part of the Rising Pune Supergiant who ended their IPL 2017 campaign as runners up after losing to MI in the final.
Other captains namely Virat Kohli (RCB), Ajinkya Rahane (RR), Kane Williamson (SRH), Gautam Gambhir (DD), Dinesh Karthik (KKR), R Ashwin (KXIP) will not attend the ceremony due to logistical reasons.
The Indian Premier League earlier suffered a blow when Steve Smith and David Warner were found guilty in a ball-tampering controversy during Australia’s third Test match against South Africa. The skipper and his deputy were subsequently sent back home and were later slapped with one year ban each by Cricket Australia. They were also ruled out of IPL 2018. Smith was set to lead the Rajasthan Royals side that is making a comeback to the league after two years. Warner on the other side had to lead Sunrisers Hyderabad. England batsman Alex Hales was on Saturday named as Warner’s replacement in the Sunrisers squad.