No Opening Ceremony for IPL 2022 Tournament : Fans disappointed.
The first match of the IPL tournament of 2022 was played on March 26th at the Wankhede stadium.
Image credit: pia.images.co.uk No Glam in 2022The opening match is going on and played between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders at the stadium. Until 2019, like every other big event, even IPL had an opening ceremony where Bollywood stars used to perform, while the captains of the teams used to take the center stage. The opening ceremony used to be a glamorous event filled with entertainment, emotion and passion for the game, the players and owners of different clubs.
The BCCI first announced in the year 2019 that there will be no opening ceremony as a tribute to the martyrs of the Pulwama attack. Since 2020, the opening ceremony was again done away with as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the protocols associated with it. The reports say that even this year the BCCI has decided to not have an opening ceremony which has disappointed many fans. The reason for cancellation of the opening ceremony this year is reportedly again Covid-19 protocol.
This is the fourth consecutive year when the BCCI has decided to scrap the opening ceremony. IPL is one of the biggest events in India and attracts a major audience. The last few editions of IPL have given its fans many memories to cherish over the years. Many fans were left heartbroken after both Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni decided to leave the captaincy. This will be the first IPL season to be played without Kohli and Dhoni in the role of captaincy. Another new thing about this year's IPL is that it will be played in a new format with 10 teams divided into groups of 5 each.
The calling off of the opening ceremony has attracted both criticism and jokes on social media. A twitter user tweeted, "kya karenge paise bacha ke." Another one wrote, "IPL got boring the day the IPL opening ceremony stopped happening." The fans also took to Twitter to remember the era of Sony Max when the IPL was launched every year with the new theme song. A Twitter user wrote, "No popular theme song as well...people still remember Jumping japak, India ka tyohaar etc even after many yrs."