It was confirmed that the Royals will welcome the Capital and Riders at their home ground at Guwahati.
The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) confirmed that the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati will host the first two home games of the Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
‘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 said through their official Twitter account.
The Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders will be welcomed by the Royals at their home venue on April 5 and 9 which will start at exactly 8 pm. The council also cleared that the afternoon and evening games for this season will maintain the 4 pm and 8 pm start times.
Before selecting Barsapara Stadium as their home ground, the Royals also eyed multiple stadiums in Lucknow, Mumbai, Trivandrum, and Ahmedabad.
‘The idea is to give the fans from across India the opportunity to come and experience a fantastic match-day at the stadiums. Having a spread over Rajasthan and Guwahati will give more choice to fans from the Northeast, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and adjoining areas to get an incredible stadium experience’, Ranjit Barthakur stated, the Executive Chairman of the Rajasthan Royals.
‘Last season, we witnessed the enthusiasm of the people from the Northeast when the young gun of Assam, Riyan Parag played many impactful innings for our team. The region that once lacked resources and facilities for cricket has seen so much growth, investing funding from the BCCI very effectively. The stadium is top quality and therefore we feel the time is right to grow our Royals' family and get the love and support from fans across the Northeast’, Manoj Badale added, the co-owner of the Royals.
The 13th season of the IPL will officially begin from March 29 to May 24 while the Royals will open their 2020 campaign with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on April 2. To learn more about the IPL, check out Betwala’s page for more information.
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