IPL 2019 opening ceremony: 8 Captains pre record a video message as the Military band is all set to perform

The Indian Premier League or the IPL season is all set to kick-start today and all the cricket buffs are ready for the roller-coaster ride. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be playing against each other in the first match. Military bands will perform at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium ahead of the first T20 match.

8 captains have pre-recorded a video message for the performance. In the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, where more than 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives, BCCI has decided to give them a tribute. They have already confirmed that there would be no opening ceremony for this year’s competition.

The BCCI has invited the representatives from the Indian Armed Forces to attend the match. “We will not have any inaugural function for the IPL and the money budgeted for that goes to the martyrs’ families,” said Committee of Administrators chairman Vinod Rai. A senior BCCI official told Hindustan Times that it was indeed a great step by a senior IPL official who took back the decision of holding a big ceremony. “am happy with the proposal mooted by the IPL official. Nothing can bring back those who lost their lives but we can, as an organization, take on a little bit of the responsibility to take care of the families of those whose lives have been snatched away in their prime in the line of duty,” he said.

“There are officials who seek to see their names in the Press with hollow proposals and for the sake of optics and it is refreshing to see a person like who avoids the limelight to come up with such a significant proposal,” he added.

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