The Committee of Administrators (COA) of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday decided to scrap the opening ceremony for the forthcoming edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), which is scheduled to begin on March 23.
The decision has been taken in view of the recent Pulwama attack, which resulted in the death of over 40 CRPF soldiers; the CoA has also announced that the money for the ceremony will instead be donated to the families of the victims.
The opening ceremonies of the cash-rich T20 league are heady mix glitz and glamour with performances by Bollywood stars being the highlight. However, as a mark of respect to the slain CRPF men, it has been decided to scrap the ceremony for the tournament’s twelveth edition.
“We will not have any inaugural function for the IPL and the money budgeted for that goes to the martyrs’ families,” said CoA chairman Vinod Rai.
This is a commendable gesture from the BCCI to extend its helping hand to the families of the martyred jawans while there are still talks going on whether to boycott from playing against Pakistan in the World Cup.
The BCCI earlier this week, announced a tentative schedule for the first two weeks of the IPL 2019 which consisted of 17 matches. However, this schedule was also subject to the election schedule even as it was ensured that the entire fixtures of the league will be soon coming out. According to the current schedule, apart from Delhi Capitals, all the other teams are playing two home and away matches while only Royal Challengers Bangalore is scheduled to play three away games.
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will play Virat Kohli-led RCB in the opener on March 23 at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.
