The opening ceremony witnessed the heartthrob of India, popular playback singer Arijit Singh perform live at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad before the curtain raiser of the Indian Premier League 2023.
The legendary singer Arijit Singh performed at the opening ceremony of the sixteenth Indian Premier League on Friday, March 31. MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings and Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans got engaged in an intense tussle. However, Rashid Khan turn the table of the events and Gujrat Titans won by 5 wickets.
Post the conclusion of the opening ceremony, the respective team captains met with the performers of the opening ceremony. Notably, Tamannaah Bhatia and Rashmika Mandanna also performed in the ceremony alongside Arijit and got a chance to meet MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya.
When Dhoni and Arijit approached each other to meet, the ‘Deva Deva’ singer touched the feet of the legendary wicketkeeper-batter in an expression of his gratitude towards him. Dhoni also embraced Arijit, and the moment caught the attention of fans instantly.
Arijit Singh touched feet of MS Dhoni ♥️#IPL2023 #GTvCSK pic.twitter.com/ZIGzyjy1Iq
— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) March 31, 2023
Arijit singh is one of the most down to earth celebrities in india
— Ansh Shah (@asmemesss) March 31, 2023
#Respect Summarizes a generation's love for Dhoni https://t.co/DSyZnWphzB
— Surya Tej Borra 🇮🇳 (@suryatej_borra) March 31, 2023
Talking about the intense match, Dhoni’s CSK were put into bat first after Gujarat skipper Hardik won the toss and elected to field first. In the powerplay, Chennai received a major blow as they lost opener Devon Conway cheaply. However, Ruturaj Gaikwad continued the flow of runs from one end, as the visitors managed to score 51 runs in the first six overs.
Coming in at 3, Moeen Ali played a brisk cameo, scoring 23 off 17 balls before being dismissed off Rashid Khan’s bowling on the second-last ball of the powerplay. The next batter Ben Stokes too was dismissed cheaply, giving Rashid his second wicket.
For Gujarat, Rashid, Mohammed Shami, and Alzarri Joseph picked two wickets each, whereas, IPL debutant Joshua Little picked a solitary scalp to restrict the visiting side to a total of 178/7 at the end of 20 overs.
At the start of the second innings, Gujarat openers Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill gave a solid start, however, the latter could not convert his start as he got dismissed off Rajvardhan Hangargekar’s bowling. Sai Sudharsan came in at 3 and also became the first Impact Substitute for the Gujarat-based franchise. The hosts managed to chase the score and won the first match of the season with 5 wickets.
