ICC World Cup 2019 opening ceremony to be held in London tonight

The 12th edition of the ICC World Cup will kick off on Thursday with a game between England and South Africa. On Wednesday, the showpiece event will formally be inaugurated with an opening ceremony in London. England is hosting the World Cup for the fifth time and the first time since 1999. Although the players will not be present in the opening ceremony, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has claimed that it will set the tone for the tournament which will conclude on July 14. The final will be played at Lord’s on that day.

The organisers of this World Cup have taken special measures to ensure that it is foolproof, particularly in the wake of the recent terror attacks in New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Tensions between India and Pakistan in the diplomatic field also raised questions over the derby between the arch-rivals at the World Cup on June 16. However, the organisers have done a decent job till now and have assured that there is no threat to the tournament.

“The Opening Party will capture the very essence of what makes this tournament so special and will be hugely exciting for the fans that are lucky enough to attend but also across broadcast we will show the world what they have to look forward to over the next 45 days of cricket action,” Steve Elworthy, former South Africa cricketer and currently the tournament’s managing director, was quoted as saying by The News.

“The Mall, with Buckingham Palace in the background, is synonymous with some of the biggest events held in the UK and is instantly recognisable to everyone around the globe. It will be a fitting celebration of a World Cup, cricket and sport with diversity at its core,” he said.

Opening ceremony to start at 9.30 pm IST

The opening ceremony will begin at 9.30 pm Indian Standard Time on Wednesday and it will be shown on the Star Sports Network. The tournament’s live-streaming will be available on Hotstar.

The World Cup this time will feature only 10 teams, four less than the 2015 edition. There are no non-Test-playing nations participating in this tournament and even all Test-playing nations have not found accommodation (Zimbabwe and Ireland have missed out).