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

IPL opening ceremony. (Photo Source: Twitter)

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 International Cricket Council (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 when 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.

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 and 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 Sharma, Babar Azam and Pat Cummins among others may arrive in Ahmedabad on the morning of 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.