Diwali dawns early in Hyderabad!

The ICL 'Opening Ceremony' was a sight to behold and an unforgettable experience which will surely be talked about for a long time to come. 'Diwali' is the Indian 'festival of lights and sound' which is celebrated by Indians across the country.

Although this vibrant and vivacious festival is a few weeks away, watching the 'Opening Ceremony' that announced the arrival of the second edition of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) gave one a feeling that Diwali had dawned early in Hyderabad. Gracing the opening ceremony were Shri.K R Suresh Reddy, Assembly Speaker, Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu, former Chief Minister-Andhra Pradesh, Shri Subhash Chandra-Chairman Zee & Essel Group and Kapil Dev-Chairman, Executive Board, Indian Cricket League (ICL). Actor Rohit Roy was the anchor for the ceremony.

With the first match to be played between ICL's popular teams, Hyderabad Heroes v/s Lahore Badshahs today, the atmosphere in the stadium was pulsating with energy. Over 1000 performers displayed their skills in what was an enthralling event encompassing acrobatics, aerial artistry, Shaolin kung-fu , trampoline daredevilry upon a heliosphere, and our very own brand of dancers and drummers.

The music was vibrant and every beat was perfectly synchronized by trained international and national artists in a choreographed extravaganza which was an amalgamation of lights, sound and a visual spectacle that was nothing short of sheer bliss to the senses.

Trampoline artists were roped in from Ukraine doing somersaults in such perfect harmony that it looked like they were puppets being controlled by unseen strings from above.

Aerialists from the United Stated climbed up to the roof of the stadium using nothing but a thin piece of cloth. These fragile and gifted women displayed the sensuousness of ice-skaters; only they were 20 feet from the ground with nothing but their many years of practice saving them from a deadly, if not fatal fall. Yet gracefully they enthralled as they always do.

Shaolin Monks from monasteries in China brought their brand of kung-fu to India reminiscing the era of Bruce Lee. Their physical endurance and apathy to pain was a sight to behold as they performed a choreographed set with props like swords, sticks and their very own bodies.

'Phoenix Productions', a group trained in 'playing with fire' took their art and craft and converted it into a scary yet visually aesthetic act that sure set the fireworks at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, quite literally.

With all these acts simultaneously vying for camera-time and a chance to enthrall our senses, a trampoline artist set off on a heliosphere which hovered around the stadium. The gifted female artist did flips, somersaults and acrobatics taking the ICL to a 'different height'.

And let's not forget our very own Indian performing artists from the Shiamak Davar Institute of the Performing Arts (SDIPA) – (aged 5 to 21) danced to the beat of Bollywood tunes and not one of them missed a step, count or footing. So professional were they that they single-handedly kept the audiences glued to the TV screens.

The drummers from the south of the country played violently and made the entire stadium come alive with the beat of their drums, announcing the ICL's arrival with fanfare and oomph. Over 100 of them beat their dholaks in an effort to breathe life into the ICL yet again and it was their pulsating rhythm that announced to the entire world that the ICL is here.

In this way, like Diwali, the whole world participated in the Opening Ceremony of the Indian Cricket League with performances and acts that will linger in the recesses of the mind for a long time to come with such and awe and splendor that's both unrivalled and unmatched, just like the brand of cricket it unveiled.

Starting today, October 10th to November 16th, the ICL 20s Indian Championship in Season 2 will see a total of 41 pulsating matches being played at four international standard stadiums in - Hyderabad, Panchkula, Gurgaon & Ahmedabad. A prize money corpus of Rs.13.72crore for 'ICL 20s Indian Championship' was announced recently.

ICL promises to make this Season 2 an unforgettable experience for TV viewers, spectators & cricket lovers across the globe. The 9 teams comprising of the newly added Dhaka Warriors will play against each other once in every city. In India, Zee Sports will telecast all matches live in Hindi, while Ten Sports will do the same in English.