Published: Apr 06, 2017, 05:12 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 06, 2017, 05:12 PM (IST)
For the second time in as many matches, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 will host the opening ceremony at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium, Pune. The occasion will be the Match 2 between Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) and Mumbai Indians (MI). The Board of Cricket for Control in India (BCCI) came up with the new initiative of hosting eight opening ceremonies in as many venues to up the excitement level. The opening ceremony will begin at IST 18:00. The live telecast of the second opening ceremony of IPL 10 will be available on Set Max, Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD. The live online streaming of IPL 2017 opening ceremonies will be available at ESPN, SonyLIV and Hotstar.
The first of the eight opening ceremonies was held on the opening day of IPL 2017 at the Rajiv Gandhi National Stadium in Hyderabad just before the first game of the tournament was played between reigning champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and last year’s runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). SRH won the game comprehensively by 35 runs against RCB who missed out on their key players like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and KL Rahul. The opening ceremony of the first game drew mixed reactions.
But coming to the second game of this edition of IPL, between RPS and MI, the stakes are very high. The Steven Smith-led RPS does look a refurbished side on paper having made many changes. They replaced MS Dhoni with Smith as captain, along with the purchase of England’s powerhouse Ben Stokes for a whopping Rs 14.5 crores. Moreover, they have also changed their name from Rising Pune Supergiants to Supergiant removing the letter ‘s’ with hopes of changing the fortune. RPS had finished at the last position in the IPL 2016 despite having a commendable side.
On the other hand, MI have looked in good shape. They are the only side as of now who have not been plagued with injuries coming in this season. Mumbai Indians do have some concerns regarding New Zealand opener Martin Guptill who is recuperating from hamstring niggles. But other than this, the Mumbai Indians’ squad is in perfect shape to take on their neighbours from the city of Pune.
Taking into consideration all these aspects, we can definitely guarantee that we are in for a cracker of contest in the Maharashtra Derby.
