Unlike the opening ceremonies of the previous seasons, the curtain-raiser of the ongoing 11th season of Indian Premier League (IPL), held hours ahead of Saturday's opening match against Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede Stadium, was a brief affair.

Right from IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla's opening speech to Hritik Roshan's crowd-pulling dance performance, every segment of the opening ceremony was fast-paced so much so that it seemed someone in the production room of the official broadcaster had pressed the fast forward button.

However, the much-publicized opening ceremony, it seems, failed to hold the attention of viewers, if Twitter reactions are anything to go by.

The one-dimensional show, despite involving big names from the Bollywood, has received mixed reactions from cricket fans in the country, who seemed to be restless for the action on the 22-yards between former champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings to begin.

Hrithik Roshan
File photo of Bollywood superstar Hrithik RoshanGetty Images

What was the opening ceremony all about?

BCCI top-brass share stage

The curtain-raiser of the 51-day non-stop cricketing action began with Shukla declaring the tournament open.

The opening ceremony, as pointed out by cricket journalist Gaurav Kalra, saw the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) office bearers and members of the the members of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators, who have been at loggerheads over various administrative issues, shared the stage.

Prabhu Deva, Varun Dhawan bring out dance moves 

Soon after, Bollywood superstar Varun Dhawan was on the stage, dancing to tunes of some chartbusters from the Hindi film industry. Things got spiced up when legendary Indian dancer Prabhu Deva joined the former and shook a leg to some of his memorable chart-busters, including AR Rahman-composed "Mukkabula" and "Urvasi".

Skipper of defending champion Mumbai Indians then graced the stage to put the IPL trophy back in stage. A recorded clip of all eight captains taking the pledge to uphold the spirit of the game was played on the big screen, inviting huge roars from the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium.

Hrithik, Tamanna and Jacqueline shake leg to charbusters

Tamanna Bhatia and Jacqueline Fernandez added glamor to the opening ceremony by dancing to tunes from various film industries.

Bollywood singer Mika Singh though faced the stick from fans on Twitter, who believed he was not even able to lip-sync effectively.

Nonetheless, Wankhede went into a tizzy as Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan set the stage on fire with his unique moves. Following the energetic performance, all the celebrities danced to the tunes of the theme song of IPL 2018.

IBTimes India has compiled a list of reactions to the IPL 2018 opening ceremony. Check them out here.

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