There will be no opening ceremony for the 2023 ODI World Cup, Indian media reported today.
The last time there was an ODI World Cup in the sub-continent, in 2011, there was a grand opening ceremony in Dhaka.
While the ICC and the BCCI have scheduled a ‘Captains’ Day’ event involving all the 10 team’s captains (photo-op and press conference) at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday, a day before the tournament’s opening match between England and New Zealand at the same venue, there will be no function to mark the start of the mega tournament.
“There was never an opening ceremony planned for the World Cup. I can confirm that,” a reliable source told Times of India.
In April, the BCCI staged a big opening ceremony for the IPL, which saw the presence of many Bollywood stars. “In the case of the IPL, you can have a short opening ceremony, as the match starts in the evening. Here, the match starts in the afternoon,” said the source.
Meanwhile, there’s little buzz in the city, as well at the Narendra Modi Stadium, before the first game of the World Cup, perhaps also due to the fact the opening match doesn’t involve India. Things are certain to be completely different when India play Pakistan here on October 14 in the most anticipated clash of the tournament.
The star-studded ceremony was projected to feature Bollywood actors and singers including Ranveer Singh, Varun Dhawan, Arijit Singh, Tamannaah Bhatia, Shreyas Ghoshal and Asha Bhosle. Plans were also made for a laser show and fireworks.
As per the latest reports, BCCI will only have captains meet today. The event which will see the captains of the ten teams answering a few questions, is likely to be followed by a laser show.
BCCI are expectedly mulling over thoughts to make the India versus Pakistan clash in October in Ahmedabad an even bigger one. A glittery ceremony could be held before the start of the match at 2 PM IST. Organising a closing ceremony on November 19 at the same venue could be one more option for the BCCI.
However, due to security reasons, the organizers have been careful not to make any pre-announcements regarding the activities that will take place in the World Cup cricket tournament.
