Stars descended in Chennai as the cash rich T20 tourney, Indian Premier League season five was underway in a grand manner. Glitz, glamour, sheer entertainment or rather cricketainment and crash bang cricket will be the flavor of the month and a little peek into the starry event was showcased here tonight.
The dazzling opening ceremony will also be graced by legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Singer Katy Perry, Bollywood stars Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor and Salman Khan among other celebrities.
The gala ceremony at the YMCA College of Physical Education would also feature all nine team captains taking the MCC Spirit of Cricket pledge. The ‘Opening Nite’ tickets start from Rs 1,500 and the the evening is expected to provide a sumptuous feast of dance and music for the fans with American pop star Katy Perry set to perform for the first time in India during the show, which will also have India`s dancing sensation Prabhudeva.
Sights firmly set on a hat-trick of titles, defending champions Chennai Super Kings will open their campaign against last year`s Champions League Twenty20 winner Mumbai Indians in the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League V on Wednesday.
The season`s lung opener at the M A Chidambaram stadium could not have got any better as two of the strongest teams in the tournament will set the tone for the high-octane Twenty20 tournament over the next eight weeks.
Banking on their home advantage which enabled them to win back-to-back titles, the Chennai outfit, led by talismanic Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will be hoping for their third consecutive IPL crown, but for that to happen they will have to pull out all stops to ensure a winning start to their campaign as their rivals — Mumbai Indians — appear to hold a slender edge.
Dhoni, who led Chennai to two IPL titles and final and semi-final appearance once, besides the 2010 CLT20 crown, however, would like to put behind Team India`s recent poor run and utilise the Twenty20 event to ease the pressure.