Guwahati gears up preparations as Rajasthan Royals’ second ‘home’ venue
After the successful conduct of two matches during IPL 2023 last year, Guwahati gears up to welcome back the Indian…
North-East India will witness the craze of the Indian Premier League for the first time in the history of the franchise-based league as the Rajasthan Royals are set to play two home matches at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati.
The first-ever IPL champions will play their opening two home encounters in Guwahati on April 5 and 9 before returning to their designated home venue of Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur for the remaining matches.
“They will now play Delhi Capitals & Kolkata Knight Knight Riders on April 5th & April 9th respectively in Guwahati. Both games will have an 8 PM IST start,” Jay Shah was quoted as saying by PTI via an official release.
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Announcing the news, the team from Jaipur took to their official Twitter handle and wrote, “The Royals are bringing the IPL to the Northeast for the very first time, expanding cricket’s footprint in the region. See you in April, Guwahati!”
The Royals are bringing the IPL to the Northeast for the very first time, expanding cricket’s footprint in the region. 😍
See you in April, Guwahati! 👋🏻#HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily pic.twitter.com/tSnguwH46y
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) February 27, 2020
The Rajasthan Royals management have been in talks with the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) for quite some time since requesting the IPL Governing Council to allow them to play in Guwahati.
The reason for Royals’ willingness to move out of Rajasthan was the ailing cricketing ecosystem in the state and their poor relationship with the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA).
Apparently, the franchise had been suffering losses due to the association’s high demands for free tickets and mandatory allotments of free seats in the stadium.
Their misery did not end as the decision to play in Guwahati was challenged by a PIL at the Rajasthan High Court earlier this year even after the Governing Council had allowed Royals for the same.
(With inputs from PTI)
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