The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to begin this evening when Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who are making a comeback after two years, will face defending Champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium.

But before cricket takes centrestage, the fans will witness performances from celebrities and stars at the grand opening ceremony which will take place at Wankhede. The two-and-a-half-hour ceremony is expected to start at 5 pm and will end 15 minutes prior to the toss of the opening encounter between CSK and MI.

An official BCCI statement has confirmed that Bollywood actors Hrithik Roshan, Varun Dhawan, Prabhu Deva, Jacqueline Fernandez and Tamannah Bhatia will be shaking a leg to get the fans in the stands grooving to the dance moves.  The glamorous evening will also witness a musical extravaganza as Mika Singh will entertain the audience with his latest hits.

The opening ceremony will be an amalgamation of performances which will set the platform for the highly popular cricketing season to be followed.

It is learnt actors Ranveer Singh and Parineeti Chopra pulled out of the opening ceremony. Ranveer pulled out as he is nursing a shoulder injury and sources reveal that Parineeti was shooting for ‘Namstey England’ in Patiala and did not have sufficient time to rehearse for IPL night.

With technology at the heart of the experience, Star Sports will leave no leaf unturned to reach out to the audiences at various corners of the world. Star Sports which was airing the auction for the first time after winning the global media rights for five years, witnessed 46.5 million viewers who tuned into Star Sports network. This huge surge in viewership for just the auctions underlines the importance IPL holds for audiences. Hotstar will also roll out the fastest cricket scorecard in the country — with the load time under 0.5 seconds. The new scorecard app will be available to all Hotstar users when they open the app.

This year’s IPL will witness the comeback of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals after their two year suspension.  CSK led by India’s 50-over and T-20 World Cup winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will take on Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians in the opening encounter.