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Aakash Chopra questions Rajasthan Royals’ choice to play their first two home matches in Guwahati, not Jaipur. He also notes RCB’s schedule starts and ends against KKR.
RR don’t play in Jaipur until April 13. (Sportzpics)
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has questioned Rajasthan Royals (RR)’s decision to allot their first two home matches to their secondary home, the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, instead of the primary Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur. He feels ‘it doesn’t make sense’ that the local fans will have to wait till April 13 when they face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to see their team live.
RR are not the only team with a secondary home venue. Punjab Kings will host three games in the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala while Delhi Capitals will also play their first two games of the season at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Vizag. Even their first home game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium will be on April 13 against Mumbai Indians.
“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,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“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,” he added
He also found RCB’s itinerary ‘interesting’ and the ‘tough’ games against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
“It’s interesting for Bengaluru. They have three of their last four and four of their last six games at home. They have more matches at home towards the back end. It used to be a problem earlier but the last season made you understand that they are quite okay,” he said.
“They won the last few matches at home and they happened to qualify. So if we see the last year’s template, it just looks alright. However, it’s interesting that they are starting against Kolkata and are also ending against Kolkata. That could be a tough game because their matches are tight and Kolkata beat them here,” Chopra added.
