CWC 2019 OPENING CEREMONY: CHECK INDIA'S SCORE IN 60-SECOND CHALLENGE

The ICC World Cup 2019 began with a glittering opening ceremony in London yesterday. Just a day before the opening match between England and South Africa, as they will clash at the Oval to mark the beginning of the showpiece event in UK.

As per News 18 report, the grand and royal celebration of 2019 ICC World Cup officially kicked off with captains of all the ten nations coming together in an exciting opening ceremony which was presented by former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Shibani Dandekar opposite the Buckingham Palace in London.

During the gala event, England captain Eoin Morgan said as the crowd present welcomed the skippers with thunderous applause, "We can't wait to start." While India skipper Virat Kohli asserted that "It is lovely to be here. There’s such a huge fan base here. That's a thing of pressure and a thing of pride as well. We'll look to utilise the crowd advantage."

News 18 further reports that, after meeting the Royal Family, the ten captains joined the special invitees at the Garden Party hosted by the Queen at the Palace. The ceremony had ace legendary Sir Vivian Richards and John Newman who sang the song ‘Feel the Love’ by Rudimental. Meanwhile, Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, was also present there. Michael Clarke brought the World Cup 2019 trophy accompanied by Graeme Swann.

To boost the fight for the cup, the opening ceremony also saw its share of fun and games with an innovative 60-second challenge, where teams were represented by two ‘guest figures’. Former Indian skipper Anil Kumble and Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar made up the Indian team. While Sir Viv Richards was joined by Olympic athlete Yohan Blake for the West Indies. The likes of Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee, Kevin Pietersen and Mahela Jayawardene were among the others involved in this event.

Former Australia batsman David Boon was the umpire for this little game. The England team with Kevin Pietersen and Chris Hughes scored 74 runs with the Australian side coming in second with 69 runs, while India managed to score only 19 and finished bottom of the pack.

How's that for a warm up game ahead of the @cricketworldcup?

Great time at the #WorldCup2019 opening ceremony. pic.twitter.com/zZS2WQ7ji3

— Sir Vivian Richards (@ivivianrichards) May 29, 2019

The fans are readying themselves for the start of the #CWC19 Opening Party! pic.twitter.com/cQ8gOYAYXb

— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) May 29, 2019