IPL 2020: Rajasthan Royals to host two matches at Guwahati

Rajasthan Royals will start their home lag of the Indian Premier League 2020 Games at Guwahati.  The Board of Control for Cricket in India has confirmed that Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati be the ‘home ground’ for the former IPL champions’ first two matches this season.

Rajasthan Royals’ first two home matches during the upcoming edition of the IPL will be played in Guwahati, the BCCI has stated in a Press release on Thursday.

“The Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati will play host to two home games of Rajasthan Royals in the VIVO IPL 2020. They will now play Delhi Capitals and  Kolkata Knight Riders on April 5 and April 9 respectively in Guwahati,” the BCCI has stated. “Both games will have an 8 pm start.”

The BCCI has further confirmed that all the 6-afternoon games this year will be played from 4 pm and the evening games will have an 8 pm scheduled to start.

Rajasthan Royals will be playing their remaining five home matches at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Also Read: IPL 2020: Warner back as SunRisers Hyderabad skipper

The Pinks, to be led by Steve Smith, will start their IPL 2020 campaign from Chennai on April 2 against the hosts and the three-time champions Chennai Super Kings.

“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!,” Rajasthan Royals wrote on their official twitter handle.

Last year, Rajasthan Royals had made a request to play few of their matches in Guwahati and have been in talks with the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) for quite some time. The move, which is backed by the IPL Governing Council, was however challenged by a PIL at the Rajasthan High Court earlier this year, adds PTI.

The reason behind such a move was Royals’ unhappiness with the ailing cricketing ecosystem in the state and also their poor relation with the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA).

The Royals also had been incurring losses due to reasons such as high demands for free tickets and mandatory allotment of seats to RCA.

The Royals had earlier played at Ahmedabad in 2010, and Ahmedabad and Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium in the 2015 season.