IPL opening ceremony moved to April 7, budget slashed by 20 crore

IPL opening ceremony, 2018 has been postponed by a day from April 6 to April 7. BCCI sources confirmed that the star-studded IPL opening ceremony has been rescheduled for April 7 before the first fixture at Wankhede Stadium.

Earlier the opening ceremony was slated to be held in Cricket Club of India (CII) but now it would be held at Wankhede Stadium and the budget has been slashed by Rs 20 crore.

The 11th edition of Indian Premier League will kickstart on April 7 where defending champions Mumbai Indians would take on Chennai Super Kings in the opener.

Chennai Super Kings would be featuring this season along with Rajasthan Royals after serving a two-year suspension.

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The call to reduce the budget by Rs 20 crore was also taken by CoA. “The budget for the opening ceremony was 50 crore but, now it has been reduced to 30 crores,” said a BCCI functionary.

The schedule for the rest of the tournament spanning 51 days that will be played on nine venues, remains unchanged.

The final of the competition is scheduled to be played on May 27 at the Wankhede in Mumbai.

IPL Winners

2008: Rajasthan Royals

2009: Deccan Chargers

2010: Chennai Super Kings

2011: Chennai Super Kings

2012: Kolkata Knight Riders

2013: Mumbai Indians

2014: Kolkata Knight Riders

2015: Mumbai Indians

2016: Sunrisers Hyderabad

2017: Mumbai Indians

Image Source: BCCI