No opening ceremony for IPL, Wriddhiman Saha eager to make a comeback and more - Cricket News Today, 22nd February 2019

No IPL Ceremony, BCCI to donate the money to martyrs' families

IPL Ceremony

The upcoming edition of the IPL will not have an opening ceremony as the Committee of Administrators (CoA) have decided to contribute the amount to the families of the CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

Bollywood celebrities and renowned singers grace the opening ceremony, but as a mark of respect to the brave soldiers, the committee has decided to scrap the event this time around.

"We will not have any inaugural function for the IPL and the money budgeted for that goes to the martyrs' families," said Committee of Administrators chairman Vinod Rai. The decision was taken by the CoA at a meeting here on Friday.

BCCI acting president CK Khanna was the one who proposed the idea of donating Rs 5 Crore for the martyrs' families. "I am very happy that COA has taken a good call to donate the money for martyrs' families. Since the entire budget allocated for the IPL opening ceremony is being donated for a noble cause. the amount of is expected to be significantly more than Rs 5 crore," Khanna told PTI.