Reports: Ahmedabad to host World Cup opening ceremony on October 4

Ahead of the ODI World Cup, slated to begin on October 5, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to host an inaugural ceremony on October 4 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

As per reports, BCCI will also invite members of the ICC and the members of several cricketing councils. All ten captains of the participating teams are slated to attend the ceremony as well. The planned extravaganza might feature several top names from the cultural field. The ICC will organise a formal briefing session for the captains earlier in the day where they will be informed about various rules and regulations they need to follow.

Notably, 12 years ago, Bangladesh hosted a special World Cup opening ceremony in Dhaka. All the skippers were transported to the ground via rickshaw as the cricketing fraternity was mesmerized by the gala night. The idea is to repeat the same in 2023, with the idea of adding Indian flavour and culture to it. As per Cricbuzz, BCCI has not finalised anything and is keeping the details private.

Arijit, Rashmika and Tamannaa performed in the opening ceremony of IPL 2023

However, they have hosted multiple such events in the past, especially ahead of any edition of the Indian Premier League. In 2023, stars like Arijit Singh, Rashmika Mandhana and Tamannaah Bhatia performed. BCCI may plan something similar, only involving more stars as the program might last longer than usual.

Interestingly, on the eve of the program, India will be hosting the Netherlands. Pakistan will face Australia and Afghanistan will be taking on Sri Lanka in their respective warm-up games. Thus, the likes of Rohit, Babar Azam and Cummins among others may arrive in Ahmedabad on October 4. After the ceremony, Babar along with the Dutch skipper Scott Edwards is expected to leave early as they will be playing each other on October 6 at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad.