IPL 2019 No regular opening ceremony for IPL 2019: Vinod Rai (Photo Credit: IPL)

The debate surrounding whether India should boycott Pakistan in the upcoming 2019 World Cup is becoming a never-ending topic. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday refused to make a concluding decision regarding the same and has put the onus on the Indian government. But, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai has announced that they will not be having a regular opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 and the amount of the budget will be donated to the families of Pulwama martyrs.

IPL is set to start from March 23 as Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore will lock horns in the tournament opener in Chennai. There has been a culture of lavish opening ceremonies in IPL, but this time around - it won't be the same.

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Rai addressed the reporters following a special general meeting and announced that the Indian board will take discuss with the government about boycotting India versus Pakistan clash in the World Cup 2019 and right now, no decision has been taken regarding the matter as there are still three months to go for the cash-rich tournament. Rai also announced that the entire amount of the budget of the IPL opening ceremony will be given to the families of the martyrs of the terror attack at Pulwama.

“We'll not have a regular IPL opening ceremony and the amount of the budget for the opening ceremony will be given to families of the victims of this terror attack,” CoA member Vinod Rai was quoted as saying by ANI.

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Rai also added that they will be writing to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to inform the board about the ghastly terror attack and about the security measures that need to be made ahead of India’s World Cup encounter against Pakistan, which is scheduled to take place on June 16 at Manchester.

"We'll write to ICC expressing our concerns about attacks that took place & that security of players, officials & everybody else must be taken care of. We're telling cricketing community that in future we must sever ties with nations from where terror emanates," Rai said.