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Cricket World Cup Opening Ceremony 2019: Check out the highlights
Cricket World Cup 2019 Opening Ceremony: The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 got underway with an opening ceremony at the Iconic Mall in London on Wednesday.
An array of stars, including captains of the 10 teams and celebrities lit up the “Opening Party” that began with John Newman crooning to “Feel the Love”. Hosted by Shibani Dandekar, Kevin Pietersen and Paddy McGuinness, the event was a star-studded and an extravagant affair.
The 10 captains were invited to the stage as the party got going. Captain of England, Eoin Morgan shared his thoughts amid a rapturous reception at the iconic venue in Central London. "Hopefully, we will be great hosts and hopefully we will do everybody proud," Morgan said.
However, it was Virat Kohli who received the loudest cheers. Indians thronged the Mall in numbers to catch a glimpse of their favourite cricketing star, which was acknowledged and appreciated by the skipper. "It's lovely to be here. We have such a huge fan base in England. The amount of people travelling from home as well. It's great to see at every stadium we play at, at least 50 percent of the crowd is Indian fans. For us, that's a thing of pressure but a thing of pride as well. Hopefully, we have got to use to the crowd support to our advantage," Kohli said.
India will begin their World Cup journey by playing against South Africa on June 5.
The 60-second challenge
The 60-second challenge, in which each of the 10 nations participating in the World Cup, was represented by a celebrity and a former cricketer for a game of gully cricket is what added to the excitement even more. India was represented by leg-spinner Anil Kumble and actor Farhan Akhtar. However, the duo were unable to display their cricketing skills to full potential as they finished last. England, represented by Pietersen and Chris Hughes, won the event as they scored 74 runs - 5 more than Australia’s pairing of Brett Lee and Pat Cash.
Following this challenge, the Cricket World Cup trophy was carried onto the stage by Michael Clarke - the 2015 World Cup-winning captain as the tournament was officially kick-started.
