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Anil Kumble, Farhan Akhtar and Malala Yousafzai attend the Opening Party for ICC Cricket World Cup 2019
One could hear the loudest cheers, as Team India captain Virat Kohli was introduced.
On Wednesday night, at the iconic London Mall against a majestic backdrop of the Buckingham Palace. The venue which was filled with cricket fans close to 4000. The 2019 ICC World Cup opening ceremony was held.
Shibani Dandekar had joined Andrew Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness to introduce the captains from the participating teams and also bring forth the excitement of fans who had gathered to witness the event.
One could hear the loudest cheers, as Team India captain Virat Kohli was introduced. In a section of the event, we saw one legendary cricket player, along with an achiever from some other sporting disciplines, and even popular culture, being welcomed at the ceremony.
While representatives from other countries included Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan), Afghan singer Aryana Sayeed and actress Joya Ahsan (Bangladesh), Farhan Akhtar walked in alongside Anil Kumble as the crowd cheered.
The guests even indulged in a bit of gully cricket on the Mall, trying to bat on behalf of their countries.
Before Farhan and Kumble went up on behalf of India, some questions from Shibani were answered by them. When Shibani asked them regarding the strategy for the challenge, and the actor-filmmaker jokes, "The strategy is that I am going to take a single to the other side and let Kumble hit all the sixes."
Shibani then asked him when was the last time he had played cricket, and Farhan's jokes continued, "When India won the World Cup in 2011 I thought it was best to retire when we were on top of our game."
Unfortunately, with Farhan and Kumble scoring 19 runs only, team India ended up at the bottom of the scoreboard after the gully cricket match.
The official launch, was also called the 'Opening Party', which was held ahead of the first match scheduled for May 30 between South Africa and the hosts, England. The opening ceremony of the Cricket World Cup, for the first time was not held inside a stadium.
