World Cup 2019: Opening Ceremony - Date, Channel, Time, And Other Details 

With just a day to go before cricket’s biggest and most ravishing festival begins, the opening ceremony is set to exhilarate a global audience today starting 9:30 pm IST. The hour-long opening party, as the International Cricket Council has coined it, is slated to intertwine sports and entertainment seamlessly to bring forth an exuberant ceremony, which is a true testament to the magnitude of the event at hand.

The ICC have termed the opening ceremony to be a perfect mixture of dance, cricket, and music with some stalwarts from the sporting and music, dancing and acting fraternity making a foray into the event. Having nailed down on the glistening and illustrious, The Mall, which is the venue for the ceremony, is said to be a visual feast. Set in the backdrop of The Buckingham Palace, the venue has welcomed several stellar acts and functions, and is all ready to act as the perfect location for the 4,000 viewers who are bound to grace the event.

The ICC had decided to keep tickets for the event extremely elusive, with tickets available only through a ballot process where the lucky winner was given 2 tickets each to keep the process of ticketing transparent and streamlined.

Apart from the live audience, the ICC have speculated a colossal televised viewer base from all over the international arena for what it has termed as the grandest and biggest opening ceremony for the World Cup till date.

Steve Elworthy, Managing Director at ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, said: "The opening party will capture the very essence of what makes this tournament so special and will be hugely exciting for the fans that are lucky enough to attend but also across broadcast we will show the world what they have to look forward to over the next 45 days of cricket action.

Although the governing council tried to maintain ultimate secrecy and keep the details of the show under wraps, reports have been emerging which point at specific events and spectacular names set to grace the stage for the night. One of the biggest performers is said to be by Rudimental, one of UK’s most loved band who was also responsible for coming out with the delectable Stand By, the official song of the quadrennial event.

Looking to seamlessly blend in sports, entertainment, dance, and music on a toothsome night, the ICC also have in place a slew of other acts to engage the audience in as they try to cater to both the sports watching and non-sporting aligned viewership.

Comedian Paddy McGuinness is said to be responsible for providing the attendees with the 'celebration of cricket, music, and culture' - one of the many big names who are lined up to make the night an eventful and memorable one.

Each of the 10 participating countries will be represented by a celebrity and a sportsperson. Hosts England will be having Kevin Pietersen and Love Island's Chris Hughes present as their faces for the night.

The ceremony will also be adorned by several ex-cricketers although the current set of players will be giving the event a skip to maintain full fitness and focus ahead of what is arguably the biggest ever one month for any player in their career.

Broadcast Details

ICC ODI World Cup 2019, Opening Ceremony

Date And Time: 29th May, Wednesday - 9:30 pm IST

Television: Star Sports 1, Select HD 1, Hindi/HD

Venue: The Mall, London