IPL 2019: All eight captains assemble in Chennai to sign fair play pledge

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 is set to kick off on Saturday with a match between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The contest to decide the winner of one of the world’s most-followed T20 tournaments will continue for almost two months. The tournament is not only known for its high cricketing skills but also the fair play award.

It is to ensure that the spirit of the game is rightly observed during IPL 2019 that the captains of all eight participating teams arrived in Chennai on Thursday to sign the pledge to maintain a fair spirit during the tournament. The inaugural game of the tournament will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Two of the current superstars of Indian cricket — MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli — will be leading the two sides, respectively.

The captains of the other six teams are Ajinkya Rahane (Rajasthan Royals), Dinesh Karthik (Kolkata Knight Riders), Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians), Ravichandran Ashwin (Kings XI Punjab), Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Capitals) and Kane Williamson (Sunrisers Hyderabad).

According to a senior official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the pledge was being pre-recorded on the sidelines of the skippers’ meeting so that all of them can return to their respective teams before their opening games of the season. All the teams will get their campaigns underway by March 25.

Opening ceremony called off

“The captains are in Chennai today for the captains’ meet as well as to sign the pledge so that all the leaders can go back to their respective teams before their opening games. They will head back to their respective franchises on Friday.

“With the opening ceremony being cancelled this year and the funds budgeted for the same to be handed to the families of the Pulwama martyrs, there will be a small screening wherein the pre-recorded signing of the pledge by the captains will be shown,” Times of India cited reports as quoting the BCCI official.

CSK has won the most number of fair play awards in the IPL – six, while Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians, now defunct Gujarat Lions, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad have reigned supreme once each.

Here’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) full squad for the IPL 2019:

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