"People in Jaipur don't know when their team will play in Rajasthan" - Aakash Chopra questions RR for playing initial IPL 2025 home games in Guwahati

Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) for playing their IPL 2025 home games in multiple venues. He noted that RR's home fans in Jaipur wouldn't even know when they would be playing their first game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

The schedule for the 18th season of the Indian Premier League was announced on Sunday, February 16. The Royals will play their first two home games in Guwahati before heading to Jaipur for their remaining five home matches in the league phase.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener wondered why the Rajasthan Royals would want to start their IPL 2025 home campaign in Guwahati despite having an indifferent record at the venue.

"Three teams, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, have alternate venues, and I start wondering why you do that. Rajasthan are starting their campaign with away matches. They don't win in Guwahati. I think they have won one out of four games," he said (3:50).

"So why are you going there at the start? By the time you come to Jaipur, it would be April 13. Twenty-odd days would have passed and you wouldn't have come to your home. People in Jaipur don't know when their team will play in Rajasthan. It doesn't make sense," Chopra added.

Aakash Chopra pointed out that the Rajasthan Royals will likely have their pre-season camp either in Jaipur or Guwahati. He asked how Sanju Samson and company would prepare for Guwahati if their camp happened to be in Jaipur.

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"Punjab are in a different boat altogether" - Aakash Chopra on the Punjab Kings' home games in IPL 2025

The Punjab Kings will play their first four IPL 2025 home games in Mullanpur before moving their base to Dharamsala. [P/C: iplt20.com]

While observing that the Delhi Capitals are virtually in the same boat as the Rajasthan Royals, Aakash Chopra noted that the Punjab Kings are ending their home campaign in IPL 2025 in Dharamsala instead of Mullanpur.

"Delhi are also starting with Vizag. They have performed decently in Vizag, but the same question that is there for Rajasthan applies to Delhi as well. Punjab are in a different boat altogether. Three of their last four matches are home games, and all three are in Dharamsala," he said (4:35) in the same video.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Shreyas Iyer and company would cede the home advantage in such a scenario.

"You don't have a very good record there in any case. When you go to play your first match there, the Lucknow Super Giants will be there in front of you. So both teams will know the conditions equally well. How is that home conditions as you would have done all your preparations for Mullanpur?" Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra also pointed out that the likes of the Mumbai Indians (MI), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) never play home games outside their respective cities.