IPL 2023 Opening Ceremony: When and where to watch, first match of the season, all big details | Cricket News – Times of India

The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League is now around the corner. IPL 2023 kicks off on March 31. As is the tradition, the defending champions play the first match and this time we will see the Gujarat Titans, led by Hardik Pandya, go up against 4 time champions the Chennai Super Kings, captained by MS Dhoni.
The first match on Friday, March 31 will be played at 7:30 pm IST and before the opening match, there will be a grand opening ceremony to mark the beginning of the next edition of the IPL.
TimesofIndia.com here takes a closer look at what you should look out for in the opening ceremony of IPL 2023:
What: IPL 2023 Opening Ceremony
When: March 31, Friday – Before the first match of the season
Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Performers: According to reports the likes of Rashmika Mandanna and Tamannaah Bhatia are likely to perform at the opening ceremony of IPL 2023. Some other names being reported are those of Katrina Kaif, Tiger Shroff and Arijit Singh
First match of the season: Defending champions Gujarat Titans vs 4 time champions Chennai Super Kings – 7:30 PM IST
Head to head of these two teams from IPL 2022: Gujarat Titans beat CSK both times they played last season – first by 3 wickets and then by 7 wickets
Where the two teams finished last season: While Gujarat Titans won the title in their maiden season, CSK finished 9th out of 10 teams
Captains: Gujarat Titans are being captained by Hardik Pandya and CSK are led by MS Dhoni

Full squads:
Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (captain), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohit Sharma, KS Bharat, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Odean Smith, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R. Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little.
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Ben Stokes, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Deepak Chahar, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Devon Conway, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Sisanda Magala, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma.