IPL 2020 News: Rajasthan Royals to camp in Guwahati from February 27th to February 29th

Rajasthan Royals have announced a three-day camp at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati to prepare and adapt to the conditions of what could be their second home ground for the upcoming 2020 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Rajasthan High Court will hear the decision filed by the franchise to play two of their home matches in Guwahati on March 17th.

Royals had earlier expressed their displeasure over the behaviour of the administrators of the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. The Barsapara Cricket Stadium, which hosted a T20I match between India and Sri Lanka back in January, could host two of the opening home games for the inaugural champions.

While confirming the news, an official source from the Royals confirmed the availability of Robin Uthappa for the camp, along with other domestic players depending upon their schedule in the Ranji Trophy.

The boys will train from Thursday to Saturday with Uthappa definitely being a part of the camp. Some other big domestic names might be there, but it also depends on how they are placed with their Ranji Trophy teams which will be battling it out in the semi-finals. The whole idea is to get a hang of conditions because if we get the clearance from the court, it will be our second home ground.

BCCI also backed the Royals on their decision to play a few matches in Guwahati, provided they don't break any rules in their request of having a second home ground. The Royals aim to generate revenue and allow the local fans to witness their players in action. The venues for matches against Delhi Capitals (5th April) and Kolkata Knight Riders (9th April) are yet to get finalized.

Also see – Indian Premier League 2020 schedule

According to the same source, the approach is to spread the game across such parts where matches don't take place often.

See, there is no denying the fact that the revenues generated is an area of concern. But then, that isn''t the sole reason behind us wanting to play a few home games in Guwahati. We are also looking at spreading the game to the city and northeast in general. We do have a lot of Rajasthan origin people in Guwahati and we feel that it would be a nice idea to give them an opportunity to witness their favourite players live in action.

The 13th edition of the IPL will commence from 29th March, while Rajasthan Royals will open their campaign against Chennai Super Kings on 2nd April in Chennai.