Cricket fans in Assam will once again get a chance to watch Indian Premier League action as the city prepares to host three matches of the upcoming season. The matches will be played at the ACA Cricket Stadium, with the Rajasthan Royals using Guwahati as their second home venue. The Rajasthan Royals squad is scheduled to arrive in Assam on March 26 ahead of the matches. The games are expected to draw large crowds from Guwahati as well as other parts of Assam and the Northeast, as IPL matches in the city have attracted strong fan support in recent seasons. The first match in Guwahati will be played on March 30, when Rajasthan Royals take on Chennai Super Kings, one of the most successful teams in the league with five IPL titles. The second match in the city is scheduled for April 7, where Rajasthan Royals will face another five-time champion, Mumbai Indians.
The third and final IPL match in Guwahati this season will be held on April 10. In that match, Rajasthan Royals will take on the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Before travelling to Assam, the Rajasthan Royals players and coaching staff will begin their preparation camp on March 17 in Jaipur. The training camp will be held at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, where the team will prepare for the tournament. The camp will be led by head coach and director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara. Team captain Riyan Parag and other squad members are also expected to join the training sessions.
Earlier, some players had already taken part in a preparatory camp at the franchise’s High Performance Centre in Nagpur. Among those who attended the camp were Ravi Bishnoi, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Sandeep Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. Some other players could not attend as they were involved in international and domestic cricket commitments.After their first match in Guwahati, Rajasthan Royals will briefly travel to Ahmedabad to face the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on April 4. The team will then return to Guwahati to play their remaining matches scheduled in the city.
