Pro Kabaddi League, PSK 2017, Opening ceremony live, Watch live,
PKL teams.IANS

The much-anticipated Pro Kabaddi League is back with the fifth season. The competition is set to kick-start on Friday with Telugu Titans taking on Tamil Thalaivas, but before that battle, there is some mega entertainment lined up with the opening ceremony to take shape at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.

The opening ceremony in the city will mark the start of the 13-week long competition, which is gradually becoming popular in India.

Pro Kabaddi League is even bigger this season, with the inclusion of four new teams in the competition. There is another level of excitement among fans with the additional teams coming into the fray, meaning more action and strong competition for the title. With 12 teams in the league, the competition has been divided into Zone A and Zone B.

Whenever an Indian sports extravaganza is lined-up, and there is a huge presence of Bollywood stars and this time, actor Akshay Kumar will be signing the national anthem in Hyderabad. Besides Bollywood, superstars from South India like Allu Arjun and Chiranjeevi will also be present at the opening ceremony, adding extra colour on Friday.

Some other guests in the opening ceremony include badminton stars B Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth, RMV Gurusaidutt and coach Pullele Gopichand. Mithali Raj will also be present.

The presence of such high-profile personalities will definitely draw a huge audience, but with the interest, the fans have shown over the years, they would be waiting for the opening match with similar excitement.

This time around, the organisers of the competition have decided to have an opening ceremony in each of the venues. It will further add glitter to the competition in all the 12 cities that will host the matches.

Where to watch live

Pro Kabaddi League 2017 opening ceremony is scheduled for 7.30 pm IST start. Star Sports 2/HD and Star Sports 3 will show the event live on TV, while the live streaming will be available on Hotstar.