Thursday, June 04, 2009

Detailed Information of Opening Ceremony of Twenty20 World Cup 2009

ICC Twenty20 world cup 2009 is now knocking at the door. This prime event of t20 format will go underway with England vs Netherlands match taking place on 5 June (Friday). The match kicks off at 16:30 GMT (17:30 Local Time) at Lord’s, after the completion of the much-awaited opening ceremony. The sad part is that, I could not find enough information regarding the opening ceremony of the tournament after spending few hours in searching about the opening ceremony in internet. It reminds me of the IPL 2009 opening ceremony which was a flop show as there was no information about it prior to the event and millions of cricket fans did not even know when it would take place.

Timing and Venue of Opening Ceremony of Twenty20 World Cup 2009

Opening ceremony will start at 15:30 GMT and at 21:00 IST (Indian Standard Time). The event will take place at Lord’s Cricket Ground where the opening match of the tournament will also take place after the opening ceremony. According to Bangladesh time, opening ceremony will be held at 21:30.

What You Can Expect in the Opening Ceremony of ICC World Twenty20 2009

I am sorry to say that I do not have any exact information regarding the opening ceremony of twenty20 world cup 2009 which I can share with you. However, I can guess that it will be a colorful event in the presence of English prime minister or any other high official from England government. Moreover, there could be some colorful displays by professional entertainers. Cricket fans can also expect that there will have some acrobatic show, but I do not think that you could experience any fire works because the opening ceremony will be held before the sun set. The opening ceremony and the opening game will be shown live on Star Cricket TV Channel. One source suggests that pop-singer Aleesha Dixon will be singing to entertain the cricket fans at Lord’s, which is known as the Mecca of Cricket.

ECB and Opening Ceremony

Well, I am really disappointed to know that the tournament organizers did not pay any heed to inform the cricket fans regarding the opening ceremony of the tournament. It seems that they are following the footstep of IPL organizers.

Twenty20 is the most popular form of the game at this moment and twenty20 world cup is the most prestigious event based on the shortest form of the game. No doubt, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) should feel proud that they are assigned to host the event this year ahead of South Asia, the largest market of cricket. Still, ECB does not seem to be very serious about the opening ceremony of such a big tournament.

ECB has the past history to present the cricket fans with flop opening ceremonies. England was the organizer of 1999 ICC World Cup and 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, and on both occasions, ECB was criticized for delivering a poor opening ceremony which irked the cricket fans. I hope cricket fans would not see the repetition of the past this time round, but the way ECB is going, it seems they are determined to stick to their reputation of delivering flop opening ceremonies.

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