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IPL in Guwahati for the first time. It’s now ‘home’ venue for Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals will play Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals on 5 and 8 April at Guwahati's Barsapara stadium, an increasingly popular venue for domestic & international events.

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Guwahati: Come April, the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) will head to northeast India for the first time since its inception in 2007. Assam’s Guwahati, located on the bank of the Brahmaputra, will host its maiden matches on 5 and 8 April, the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) said Friday.

The city has been chosen as the ‘home’ venue for the Rajasthan Royals, who will play their two matches — against the Punjab Kings and the Delhi Capitals — at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, said a press statement issued by ACA Chief Executive Officer Pritam Mahanta.

Guwahati will be the 'home' venue for @rajasthanroyals

RR will play against Punjab Kings in the first match; Delhi Capitals will be the opponent in the second match.#IPL #TataIPL

— Assam Cricket Association (@assamcric) February 17, 2023

Speaking to ThePrint, Devajit Lon Saikia, joint secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said the BCCI would extend all support to the ACA to host the two matches “in a befitting manner”.

“It was a long effort by the ACA, sometime in 2018, for Guwahati’s selection as an IPL venue. In 2020, two matches were allotted to Guwahati, but could not be hosted as the IPL was shifted to Dubai during the pandemic. Thereafter, only two venues hosted the IPL in India — Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Now with normalcy returning, there will be home and away matches for all the teams,” said Saikia, also a former ACA secretary.

“We are very thankful that the Rajasthan Royals have chosen Guwahati as their second home ground,” he added.

In 2020, the ACA “aggressively marketed” the Barsapara stadium as a potential venue to the BCCI and two IPL franchises, including the Rajasthan Royals, Saikia added.

“From the franchisee’s point of interest, the Barsapara stadium is a convenient venue — we have a 40,000-capacity stadium with 36 corporate boxes. We have witnessed good crowds in Guwahati, the weather is nice, and all infrastructure in place,” Saikia said, adding that everything has been possible because of the “active support” of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, also a former ACA president.

Meanwhile, Ranjit Borthakur, executive chairman of the Rajasthan Royals, told ThePrint that Barsapara stadium is one of the big venues in India, and “better than most venues known.”

“Cricket is a unifying medium in India. Ideally, the northeast is a sporting region, but has not been a venue for IPL, so far. As the IPL goes to national and international audiences, it is important that we have Guwahati as a venue. We, as a franchisee, have a right and option to opt for another venue. And even though we are very happy in Rajasthan, we have also chosen Guwahati,” said Borthakur.

The IPL saw 600 million (60 crore) people tune in last year, according to the BCCI, placing it third in global reach among sports leagues behind the National Football League (NFL) in the US and the Premier League in England.

Guwahati is emerging as a favoured destination for such big sporting events, with Barsapara cricket stadium hosting both domestic and international matches.

In the past few years, the matches played at the stadium have included an India vs Sri Lanka ODI on 10 January this year, an India vs South Africa T20 on 2 October last year, an India vs West Indies ODI in 2018 and an India vs Australia T20 in 2017.

(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)


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