Hyderabad, April 4: The 8 captains of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 met here today (April 4) on the eve of the start of the 10th edition of the cash-rich Twenty20 league. (SRH-RCB match preview)
Tournament schedule; Squads; Photos; Broadcasters list
IPL 2017 will get under way at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium tomorrow (April 5) with a repeat of last year's final.
Hosts and defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) from 8 PM IST.
All smiles! The eight captains get into the #IPL selfie mode pic.twitter.com/MmrbXZFrUS
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 4, 2017
RCB are hit by injuries to key players. Captain Virat Kohli, star batsman AB de Villiers will miss the opening game while opener KL Rahul is ruled out of the entire tournament.
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson will lead RCB in Kohli's absence.
Ahead of the league's start, all 8 captains met and were relaxed as they posed for pictures during a photo shoot.
.@imVkohli @ImRaina @Gmaxi_32 @ImZaheer @GautamGambhir @stevesmith49 @ImRo45 And when he did say "Cheese" - these Gentlemen were all in their elements #IPL #SpiritOfCricket pic.twitter.com/YOzFIJ0kas
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 4, 2017
"The eight captains of the 2017 VIVO IPL got together here in Hyderabad for a formal meet and greet with the IPL match officials. Together they discussed different aspects of the game and the tournament that will be played over the course of the next 47 days. IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla joined everyone over teleconference and addressed certain issues and doubts if there were any during the course of the meeting," a report on IPL's official website, said.
.@imVkohli @ImRaina @Gmaxi_32 @ImZaheer @GautamGambhir @stevesmith49 @ImRo45 Ah!!! that's even better #IPL #SpiritOfCricket pic.twitter.com/0qohlbV6uh
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 4, 2017
"Later, all eight captains of their respective IPL teams pledged their allegiance to the Marylebone Cricket Club's (MCC) Spirit of Cricket campaign by signing the spirit of cricket bat. The skippers, one after another, trooped onto the stage as their names were called by former Indian skipper Ravi Shastri, who conducted this part of the event.
"It was then time for the captains to pose for the camera for a group photograph. They were at their jovial and whackiest best and were completely in their elements in front of the camera. Suresh Raina, captain of the Gujarat Lions later took a selfie with the rest of the captains," it added.
The 8 captains of IPL 2017
1. Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
2. Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders)
3. Glenn Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab)
4. Steve Smith (Rising Pune Supergiants)
5. Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)
6. David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
7. Suresh Raina (Gujarat Lions)
8. Zaheer Khan (Delhi Daredevils)
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