Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2018 kicked off to a roaring start with a gala opening ceremony at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday evening. The ceremony was followed by the opening match between Multan Sultans and the defending champions Peshawar Zalmi. The opening extravaganza witnessed the presence of several renowned names from the current and previous generation of cricketers as well as celebrities from the world of entertainment.
Young and upcoming movie stars Hareem Farooq and Bilal Ashraf were the emcees for the ceremony. Cricket fans present at the Dubai stadium also had the opportunity to visit PSL’s official smartphone partner OPPO’s experience zone showcasing the latest smartphones from The Selfie Expert and Leader.
The opening ceremony started with the national anthem of Pakistan performed by Sachal Orchestra and the United Arab Emirates and hit high notes with enthralling and eye catching performances by Ali Zafar, Shahzad Roy and the legendary Sufi singer Abida Parveen. Internationally acclaimed artist Jason Derulo also performed following in the footsteps of Sean Paul and Shaggy who made their mark at the first two editions of the PSL.
The Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, Mr. Najam Sethi delivered the keynote speech applauding the efforts put in for the ceremony and motivating the teams. He said, “PSL keeps getting bigger and better with each year. The difference between the last edition and this edition is that now we have bigger stars, and hopefully we will see better cricket. The pitches designed to bring in big runs.” Commenting that PSL has re-energized cricket in Pakistan, he vowed that PSL will continue to promote the sport and bring young talent to the forefront in the country.
According to CEO OPPO Pakistan, Mr. George Long, “In Pakistan, cricket is a game which unites the entire nation. OPPO hopes to capture exciting match moments on the performance driven selfie expert OPPO F5 through the “OPPO selfie moment” in the match campaign.”
This year’s newest entry, Multan Sultans led the team march as the master of ceremony Ramiz Raja introduced the team. They were followed by Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars, champions Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators.
Hassan Ali, the face of OPPO’s new F5 TVC exclusively shot for the Pakistani market has been unable to perform in the first match due to injury, but he’ll join this tournament as soon as he gets fit. He is lined up as a fast bowler in Peshawar Zalmi and vowed to perform his best in Pakistan Super League Season 3.
200 million Pakistani will be looking forward to matches to be played on home soil. Lahore will be lit up to host the two qualifiers while Karachi will be the hosting the closing ceremony followed by the Final.
