The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 opening ceremony will take place before Mumbai Indians host Chennai Super Kings in the season opener at Wankhede Stadium on April 7.
Every year, before the season starts, celebrities from India and on certain occasions, international superstars perform at the opening ceremony. This year's event will not be any different than the previous seasons.
However, in the last few editions, the entertaining event would take a day before the first match is played. That will not be the case this year as the opening ceremony is likely to finish minutes before the toss. International Business Times India looks at the list of celebrities performing at this year's event.
Ranveer Singh was expected to entertain the cricket fans at Wankhade and around the globe with his performance. However, a shoulder injury a week before forced the Padmaavat star to withdraw from the event.
"Thank you for the good wishes everyone. I'm good. Its just a labral tear in my left shoulder. I intend to come back stronger. Love you all," Ranveer tweeted.
He is not the only Bollywood star who will be forced to miss the opening ceremony. Parineeti Chopra, who was earlier scheduled to take part in front of the live audience, will withdraw due to her busy schedule.
"Parineeti Chopra was to perform at this year's IPL opening ceremony. She was shooting non-stop for Namaste England in Patiala and had back-to-back, pre-committed endorsement commitments," Chopra's spokesperson released a statement on the actresses' behalf, as quoted by NDTV.
"So, unfortunately, she did not have enough time to rehearse in spite of her best efforts. Being a thorough professional, Parineeti spoke to Wizcraft and explained to them that she was not ok putting up a compromised performance.
"Wizcraft has been gracious enough to understand this and agrees with Parineeti. She would not be performing at the gala opening," it added.
Hrithik Roshan will replace Ranveer at the IPL 2018 opening ceremony and the former had earlier confirmed his participation.
"Yes, I can officially confirm that I will be performing for the opening ceremony of IPL. I have already started rehearsing for it. It will be fun to perform in front of a live audience once again," Roshan told Hindustan Times.
The 44-year-old will be joined by Varun Dhawan and Jacquelin Fernandez from the Bollywood fraternity at the IPL 2018 opening ceremony.
Celebrities list
- Hrithik Roshan
- Varun Dhawan
- Jacquelin Fernandez
Event Details
Event: IPL 2018 opening ceremony
Date: April 7
Time: 5pm IST/12:30pm BST
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
