Hrithik Roshan along with his troupe performed during the opening ceremony of IPL 2018 in Mumbai on Saturday. (Source: IPL)
The Indian Premier League opening ceremony in Mumbai witnessed excitement in full swing as cricketers and Bollywood stars enthralled a capacity crowd at Wankhede. The evening began with IPL Commissioner Rajeev Shukla officially declaring the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League open. Along with Shukla were BCCI acting President CK Khanna, CoA members Diana Edulji and Vinod Rai and BCCI acting secretary, Amitabh Choudhary.
Following which the pomp and splendour began with gusto. Varun Dhawan danced to some of his numbers. Following which other performers including Prabhu Deva, Hrithik Roshan and Jacqueline Fernandez also shook their leg to some peppy songs. Singer Mika Singh also lent his voice to a few dance numbers. Roshan was particularly great with his moves, leaving the audience grooving.
Tamannaah Bhatia performed during the opening ceremony of IPL 2018 in Mumbai on Saturday. (Source: PTI)
Once the song and dance sequences came to an end Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma brought out the IPL Trophy and along with the other seven captains reiterated his commitment to ‘The Spirit of Cricket’ pledge. Mumbai Indians are also the defending champions of the IPL after winning the trophy for a historic third occasion by defeating Rising Pune Supergiants in the finals last year.
IPL opening ceremony was a colourful affair on Saturday. (Source: IPL)
The IPL’s Spirit of Cricket pledge is an important aspect of the opening ceremony and it emphasizes to play the game in the right spirit, play fair and respect the opponent. Since not all captains could be present in Wankhede, they signed it digitally. Meanwhile, after presenting the trophy in front of the audience Rohit Sharma said, “We’ve won all the three titles for this wonderful crowd here. Looking forward to starting this tournament on a good note.”
Jacqueline Fernandez made a grand entry to the stage. (Source: IPL)
Following the opening ceremony, defending champions Mumbai Indians locked horns against Chennai Super Kings in a mouth-watering clash. Returning after a gap of two years, MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl first. Mumbai got off to a wobbly start, following which they clawed back into the match with a good partnership between the Pandya brothers.