Hyderabad: The opening ceremony of the IPL lived true to the event's nature — short and sweet. There were some felicitations, a bit of song and dance, few fireworks and loud cheers as the annual league kicked off in its customary glitzy fashion.
Virat Kohli makes a grand entry in a golf cart.
The proceedings began with the felicitation of Indian stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly who were taken around the ground in a battery-operated cart as the crowd whooped in delight. Later, the Famous Four were presented mementos as they were felicitated by the BCCI officials. Entry of the two most important men of the night - rival captains David Warner and Virat Kohli — followed the felicitation programme. The leaders exchanged greetings and took the pledge to uphold the spirit of the game. While this was on, the big screen at the ground relayed footage from past IPL champions and the boisterous crowd showed their partisan nature by reserving the loudest cheers for triumphs by Deccan Chargers (2009) and Sunrisers (2016) as Adam Gilchrist and David Warner showed up on the screen. Later, Bollywood beauty Amy Jackson led a dance troupe to shake their legs about to some foot-tapping numbers.
