Glittering ICC Cricket World Cup opening ceremony concludes in London
Andrew Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness, and Shibani Dandekar are hosting opening ceremony
LONDON (Dunya News) – With the 12th edition of ICC cricket world cup starting from tomorrow May 30, the wait for this cricket carnival is coming to its end with less than 24 hours to go as the the glitzy opening ceremony has concluded at the iconic The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace in central London.
The ceremony came to end with the official World Cup song Stand By being performed. The countdown has begun and the real action will begin tomorrow with England taking on South Africa in the opener.
Andrew Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness, and Shibani Dandekar hosted the World Cup 2019 opening ceremony. The Mall was flooded with cricket fans from across the globe. There are few, in fact, many India flags as well.
The 10 team captains marched in on the stage with their flags. Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib came first while England Eoin Morgan was the last one to join the stage.
"We can t wait to start. Tomorrow s obviously a very exciting day. Incredibly proud to be where we re at. Hoep to be good hosts," says England captain Eoin Morgan at the opening ceremony.
"Lovely to be here. Such a huge fan base here. That s a thing of pressure and a thing of pride as well. We ll look to utilise the crowd advantage," says India skipper Virat Kohli at the event.
West Indies legend Vivian Richards is also present at the Opening party in London. Members of the British royal family amake an appearance at the World Cup opening party.
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has joined the star-studded opening ceremony in London. One former cricketer and one icon from each World Cup nation have been invited. Farhan Akhtar, Bollywood star, has joined the glittering ceremony. The 60-second challenge is right now underway.
Hosts England will take on South Africa in the World Cup opener tomorrow at 3 pm IST. England are hosting the World Cup after 20 years and are the favourites to win the title for the first time.
Ahead of the opening ceremony, the captains from the World Cup-playing nations posed with the Queen.
Andrew Flintoff invited legends from every participating nation to accept the 60-second challenge.
Anil Kumble represented India alongside Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar
David Boon was the umpire for the 60-second challenge.
Afghanistan was the first side to take part in this little event, and they have scored a total of 52 runs. Next team to bat are Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankans, with Mahela Jayawardene out there batting for his side, have scored 43 runs. West Indies, represented by Viv Richards and Yohan Blake, are next.
West Indies notch up a score of 47, which included quite a few big hits from sprinter Yohan Blake as well as the batting legend Richards. Next team to bat is Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, with Abdur Razzaq among those representing the side, score 22 runs, the lowest among the sides so far in the event. Next up is Pakistan, represented by Azhar Ali and Malala Yousufzai.
Not a bad score for the Pakistanis, with 38 runs being collected by Azhar and Malala. "Im sure we ll get on top," says former India leggie Anil Kumble on his team s chances.
Pakistan fans couldn t keep calm as they waited to see former players Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and others at the ceremony.
Noble Laureate Malala Yousafzai asked women to engage more in cricket and cite Sana Mir s example to the young generation.
"These role models are inspiring women to believe in themselves that they are capable of anything. Women should engage more in sports and we all have to contribute in that."
Engaland have scored 74 runs to beat five-time World Champions Australia in the gully game. Kevin Pietersen and Chris Hughes pip Australia’s Brett Lee and Pat Cash. India are lowest on the scoreboard with mere 19 runs.
Later, Michael Clarke, the then captain of defending champions Australia, was at the Mall in London. He took the World Cup trophy to the stage. Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann accompanied to the stage.
"England are the favourites," reckons Michael Clarke. "Australia need to continue the way they are playing for the last few months to retain the Cup," said the 2015 World Cup-winning skipper.
The opening ceremony came to an end with official World Cup 2019 Song Stand By and performed by singer Loryn.
So the short and sweet World Cup opening ceremony is over with some glitz and glam. There wasn t much crowd, just around 40,000 people to keep it a simple affair.
Some music and some cricket in that one hour ceremony hosted by Andrew Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Shibani Dandekar.
Below are the fixtures of ICC World Cup 2019
