As India hosts it’s first-ever Women Premiere League for cricket, fans sing, ‘YehToh Bas Shuruat Hai’…

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Ahead of the International Women’s Day on March 8, as the first-ever Indian Women’s Premiere League takes off, here is a look at all the entertainment planned for the opening ceremony. Also, celebs share the team and players they are rooting for.

Star-studded affair

The opening ceremony will be held tonight at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. While Punjabi-Canadian singer AP Dhillon will be seen singing his songs as well as the anthem, Yeh Toh Bas Shuruat Hai, actresses Kriti Sanon and Kiara Advani will be the star performers from Bollywood, who will grace the event. The WPL will go on till March 26 with five teams — Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Captials and UP Warriors — competing against each other.

While Kriti Sanon had previously performed in one of the IPL seasons, Kiara Advani and AP Dhillon will be debuting as premiere league performers. Kriti updated her fans: “See you guys there, super proud.”

Dhillon had previously performed in a Mumbai concert, which was sold out. Kiara also shared the details on her Instagram story, “Excited to cheer our women in blue. Happy to perform at the opening ceremony of WPL.”

Epic anthem

WPL theme song, Yeh Toh Bas Shuruat Hai, got a warm welcome on Twitter as well as other social media handles. If one user called it a better track than the IPL, another praised Shankar Mahadevan, the composer and singer, for giving such a good song. The female part in the song has been sung by Harshdeep Kaur, Neeti Mohan and Akriti Kakar. The theme song was launched on Wednesday while the mascot, ‘Shakti the Tiger’, was unveiled on Thursday. Jay Shah, BCCI secretary, shared on Twitter, “Fast, fierce and full of fire! She’s ready to set the field ablaze, lekin #YehTohBasShuruatHai!”

Campaign right

Viacom18 has also launched a song Har Zubaan Par Naam Tera, which crossed 2.3 million views mark in just two days.

Great initiative

“Being born in Mumbai, there’s no way I will be supporting any other team but Mumbai. I think Harmanpreet Kaur is a great choice for Mumbai Indians captain, as she is captain of Indian national cricket team in all formats. Having said that, I think I am rooting for women in general not just my home team, as it’s a great initiative by BCCI. — Pranitaa Pandit, actress

Wonderful beginning

Not just in cricket, I would like to see female leagues in other franchise formats, such as Hockey India League and Pro Kabaddi League, too. So, in a way, I would like to take the WPL anthem song, Yeh Toh Bas Shuruat Hai, quite literally. — Kate Kharma, actress

Royal touch

I believe Royal Challengers Bangalore is the strongest team with homegrown talent, Smriti Mandhana, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, and international stars like Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry and Heather Knight. I will be rooting for Royal Challengers. International players will definitely provide more exposure to our players, which is a good thing for the overall development of sport. — Hitanshu Jinsi, actor

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