IPL 2023 opening ceremony: Every essential detail on the biggest sports night

The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League will begin today with the much-awaited clash between defending champions Gujarat Titans and four-time champions Chennai Super Kings.

The matches will be played across 12 venues, including Mohali, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Jaipur, with the biggest cricket stadium in the world – the Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat – hosting the opening ceremony, the first match as well as the finals on May 28.

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Which celebs will perform at the opening ceremony?

IPL 2023’s opening ceremony will have an element of music as prominent singer Arijit Singh will perform at the event. Actresses Rashmika Mandana and Tamannaah Bhatia will also be a part of the event, with a number of reports suggesting Tiger Shroff and Katrina Kaif also performing this time.

Watch the Event LIVE

The ceremony will kick off at 6:00 in the evening and fans across the country can catch the event LIVE on Star Sports and Jio Cinema app, with ITV and DAZN to broadcast matches for those in the UK and other countries.

Home-and-Away Schedule Returns

For the first time in almost four years, the tournament will return to its customary home-and-away schedule, where each team will play seven matches at the respective home grounds and the remaining seven at away venues. While the day matches will start at 3:30 pm IST, the night ones will begin around 7:30 pm IST.

The teams have been divided into a couple of groups, with Lucknow Super Giants, Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, and Mumbai Indians in Group A and Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, and Punjab Kings in Group B.

Also Read:- KKR IPL 2023 Team Squad: Players, Captain, Coach & More

The Majestic Opening Match

March 31 will see a terrific clash between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans.

On one side will be GT skipper Hardik Pandya, who grabbed substantial limelight after leading the team to the title in their debut season, and on the other will be CSK skipper MS Dhoni, who clinched three major titles in the late 2000s and early 2010s – the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011, and ICC champions trophy in 2013.

Chennai Super Kings squad:

Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (w/c), Dwaine Pretorius, Deepak Chahar, Simarjeet Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner, Bhagath Varma, Tushar Deshpande, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Akash Singh

Gujarat Titans squad:

Abhinav Manohar, Shubman Gill, Kane Williamson, Hardik Pandya (c), Rahul Tewatia, Matthew Wade(w), Rashid Khan, Shivam Mavi, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal, Srikar Bharat, Wriddhiman Saha, Sai Sudharsan, Urvil Patel, Vijay Shankar, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Odean Smith, Jayant Yadav, Joshua Little, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma, Pradeep Sangwan