IPL 2025: SRK steals the show in garish opening ceremony at Eden Gardens

“Are you ready? Is India ready?’’ Shah Rukh Khan asked with customary elan from the dark. The capacity crowd at the Eden Gardens roared in approval as the 18^th edition of IPL got underway with a generous dose of Bollywood razzmatazz on Saturday evening.

The troika of diva Shreya Ghoshal, pin-up girl Disha Patani and new musical sensation Karan Aujla served up a 30-minute performance – which of course looked like an action replay of the IPL opening gigs over the years. Some could have even found it close to being over-the-top and a bit lengthy but then ironically, that’s the recipe of IPL success -  love it or hate it but you just cannot ignore it.

 It’s the easy charm of SRK, co-owner of the Knights and one of the de facto brand ambassadors of the IPL product through it’s 18-year journey, which held the show together. He engaged Virat Kohli and  KKR finisher Rinku Singh in a bit of banter after the live performances.

Kohli, who captained RCB for years, agreed to SRK’s suggestion that he may be now a part of the 'Generation Old' while Rinku is a member of 'Generation Bold' – but he has no plans of quitting the stage anytime soon.

 Much to the relief of all those waiting for the jamboree, the raingods relented since the afternoon after creating quite a scare on Friday evening when a steady drizzle forced an early stoppage to practice sessions of both champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Guwahati now a Test centre

Earlier in the day, the BCCI Apex Council met in the city for a number of key decisions. Guwahati, the hometown of new BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, is now set to make it’s debut as a Test venue when India take on South Africa from November 22. It will be the second game of the two-Test series, the first to be played in New Delhi.

 The touring Proteas will play a full-fledged series with the Tests being followed by three ODIs in Ranchi (Nov 30), Raipur (Dec 3) and Vizag (Dec 6) and five T20Is in Cuttack, Nagpur, Dharmshala, Lucknow, Ahmedabad from Dec 9 to 19.

Guwahati’s Barsapara Cricket Stadium has also been named as one the five centres in India for Women’s ODI World Cup in September. The opening ceremony of the prestigious event is scheduled at Visakhapatnam while Mullanpur in Punjab, Indore and Thiruvananthapuram are the other venues. In case the Pakistan women’s team qualify, they are likely to play in Sri Lanka as per the hybrid model agreen upon.

 Meanwhile, the Eden Gardens will host a Test after quite a while as Kolkata and Mohali will host two Tests against the West Indies in October. It’s been six year since the Eden had last hosted the pink ball Test in 2019, where India thrashed Bangladesh inside three days.