Here's why 6 IPL captains will skip the opening ceremony
What's the story
Six of the eight IPL franchise captains are set to give this season's opening ceremony a miss. Except for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, other franchise skippers wouldn't attend the event scheduled on April 7 at the Wankhede stadium. All captains will do a special video shoot on 6 April and leave for their respective cities the same evening.
Logistical issue
Reason behind the goof up
Till last year, the opening ceremony was held a day before the first match and all the captains would attend it. This year, however, it was decided that the ceremony would be held in Mumbai, on the same day of the first match between Mumbai and Chennai. This goof up caused logistical issues for various franchise captains who have matches the following day.
Information
Matches on 8 April
There are two matches scheduled the day after the planned opening ceremony- a 4 PM match between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab and an 8 PM match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Improper planning?
Lack of homework, says BCCI
"IPL team should have done their homework. They are calling Gautam Gambhir (Delhi skipper) and Ravichandran Ashwin (Punjab captain) a day before an afternoon match. That's absolute lack of homework," said a BCCI official. Admitting to logistical issues, BCCI acting president CK Khanna said that the captains will shoot their part a day earlier, which will be shown during the ceremony.