Men's Hockey World Cup 2018: Opening ceremony - Telecast, date, start time and where to watch online

The city of Bhubaneswar is all geared up to host the fourteenth edition of the Men's World Cup. A refurbished and upgraded Kalinga Stadium will witness sixteen of the worlds best hockey teams battle it out, over eighteen days, in an attempt to capture the prestigious World Cup trophy.

Olympic silver-medalists Belgium will take on Canada in the opening encounter tomorrow before a sell-out crowd cheers the Indians on against South Africa.

A gala opening ceremony is scheduled later today which will officially flag off the tournament which has generated massive interest amongst the hockey-loving locals of Odisha.

All tickets for the India matches have been sold out well in advance which indicates the mass support and involvement that the World Cup has managed to generate.

Shah Rukh Khan whose classic film Chak De! India helped popularize the game of hockey will be in attendance at the Opening Ceremony while noted television presenter Gaurav Kapur will be hosting the show.

A performance by popular Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit will also be the highlight of tonight's event. Music maestro AR Rahman who composed the World Cup anthem titled "Jai Hind India" along with eminent lyricist and songwriter Gulzar will also be performing in tonight's show.

Tonight's opening ceremony will be followed by a World Cup celebration event at Cuttack's Barbati Stadium tomorrow and Bollywood star Salman Khan is expected to attend the event.

Odia actors Archita and Sabyasachi Mishra will also be seen on stage in the event for which tickets were sold out within a few hours after going on sale online.