IPL 2018: Kohli, Gambhir, Karthik, Ashwin Set to Miss IPL Opening Ceremony

As many as four captains will miss the opening ceremony of IPL 2018, which will be held on the April 7.

Since it is not feasible for the captains of teams playing on the second day of the league to attend the opening ceremony and then fly back to their respective states, they will miss the ceremony.

The four captains who will miss the opening ceremony are Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik.

Steven Smith and David Warner will be in attendance along with Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni.

While Smith and Warner will play their first game on April 9, Rohit and Dhoni have their first contest at the venue where the ceremony will take place.

A report in Cricketnext suggests that now, the pledge taken by the captains will be pre-recorded which will be played during the opening ceremony,

“Having the captain’s pledge at the Trident Hotel in Nariman Point on April 6 means that all the leaders can go back to their respective teams before their opening games. With the opening ceremony now on April 7, having the pledge live would mean keeping Virat Kohli (RCB), Gautam Gambhir (DD), Dinesh Karthik (KKR) and R Ashwin (KXIP) away from their teams on the eve of their opening game on April 8. So, if we have the event in advance, they can happily strategise and make last-minute plans before the game,” an official told Cricketnext.

Earlier, the ceremony was to take place on Apil 6, a day before the start of the league.

However, COA pushed the event by a day to cut the cost.

As per the reports, BCCI will save around Rs 20 Crore by hosting the ceremony on April 7.

Earlier, it was to take place at Cricket Club of India but will now take place at the Wankhede Stadium, the venue for the IPL opener.

The upcoming season of IPL starts on April 7 with Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings.

Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings are the two franchises that are making a comeback in the league after serving a ban for two years.

The final of the tournament will be played on May 27 at the Wankhede Stadium. BCCI is yet to ink on the venue for Eliminator and second Qualifier.

Here’s the news feed:

IPL 2018: Kings XI Punjab To Kickoff Preparations On March 27

IPL 2018: Kings XI Punjab Announce their Support Staffs