Former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) champion, The Great Khali was the special guest at the opening game of the ICC World Cup 2023 between England and New Zealand on Thursday.
The giant wrestler from Punjab was presented with a massive World Cup t-shirt by Australia captain Pat Cummins and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Khali, who's real name is Dalip Singh Rana, was presented as the 'biggest cricket fan' at the largest stadium in the sport.
The 7 foot 1 inch retired wrestler met and clicked pictures with all the 10 captains at the World Cup, including India skipper Rohit Sharma.
The BCCI had organised a special captains' day show on the eve of the World Cup where they interacted with former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri and ex-England skipper Eoin Morgan, who led his team to victory in the 2019 edition.
England put into bat by New Zealand
The World Cup is being hosted solely by India for the first time this year. It is also the first ODI WC which is being hosted by a single nation since 1979.
The ODI World Cup began with 2019 finalists New Zealand winning the toss and opting to bowl first against defending champions England.
England are missing the services of Ben Stokes in this match due to a hip niggle while the Blackcaps had to leave out Kane Williamson, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson due to injuries.
A total of 48 matches will be played across 10 venues, culminating in the final on November 19 in the biggest cricket stadium in the world.
