There will be no opening ceremony for the IPL 2019: Vinod Rai

The much awaited 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to commence on March 23. The defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will lock horns on the opening night. Every year, a glittering opening ceremony precedes the first game of the season. However, this time around there will no such ceremony.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai has cleared that the money which was due to be spent in the opening ceremony will be donated the martyred jawans in the recent Pulwama attacks. “There will be no IPL opening ceremony. Instead, the money will be donated to Pulwama martyrs,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Next on Friday.

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.

Entire schedule yet to release

In the meantime, apart from the ongoing tensions on playing Pakistan in the mega event in World Cup, the BCCI also has to deal with the schedule which has been delayed so much with only less than 30 days left for the tournament to begin. The Indian board is waiting for the schedule of the General Election which are scheduled to take place this year alongside the IPL.

The BCCI earlier this week, announced a tentative schedule for the first two weeks of the T20 league 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 season will be soon coming out. According to the current situation, apart from Delhi, all the other teams are playing two home and away matches while only RCB is scheduled to play three away games.

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