No glitzy opening for IPL; amount to be donated to Pulwama victims' kin

Bollywood actor Tamannaah Bhatia during last year's Indian Premier League opening ceremony at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai

With sentiments running high over the recent terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir's Pulwama district in which 44 CRPF soldiers lost their lives, the Committee of Administrators (CoA), governing the BCCI, decided to scrap the opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League.

It is not just about doing away with the glitzy ceremony. The CoA in its meeting held yesterday in New Delhi, decided to donate the amount kept aside for the opening ceremony towards the families of the martyrs.

The opening ceremony would have cost the BCCI Rs 18 to 20 crore. "It was the same amount the BCCI had allocated last time for the opening ceremony," said a BCCI source. It is learnt that the BCCI was in the process of releasing a Request For Proposal (a tender) for companies interested in conducting the opening ceremony. However, it won't be done after yesterday's decision.

"We will not have any inaugural function for the IPL and the money budgeted for that goes to the martyrs' families," CoA chairman Vinod Rai was quoted as saying in the media.

The IPL opening encounter will be played between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai on March 23. Meanwhile, the CoA decided to form an association for Uttarakhand and asked the four warring factions to come together to be a part of the new cricket association for the state. The consensus committee is set to be disbanded by March 31.

Also Read: IPL 2019: Chennai Super Kings take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in opener on March 23

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