The opening game of the upcoming Indian Premier League 2018 will see the defending champions Mumbai Indians take on winners twice Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede Stadium.
The commencement ceremony of the eleventh edition has been postponed by a day, though. And will now happen from April 6 it”s original date to now April 7. The decision was taken by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) of the board.
The venue of the ceremony has also been shifted, the changes were made after the CoA forced budget cuts worth Rs. 20 crore for the opening blockbuster.
The event will now be happening at the historic Wankhede Stadium and has been shifted from the Cricket Club of India (CCI), which was the original venue.
A BCCI official was quoted recently, “Earlier the opening ceremony was scheduled for April 6 at the Cricket Club of India. Now it has been decided by the CoA that it will happen on April 7 at Wankhede before the 2018 IPL opener”.
“Earlier the budget for the opening ceremony was Rs 50 crore, now it has been reduced to Rs 30 crore. This call, too, has been taken by the CoA”, the source added.
The opening ceremony will now be held before the first game, between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings on April 7. The schedule for the rest of the games also remains unchanged.
By now we all can”t wait for the IPL to get started. The tournament is expected to be bigger & better than ever before. The opening ceremony to set the ball rolling for the tournament will be something to really watch out for as well.
