With the Rajasthan High Court set to hear the petition filed against Rajasthan Royals' decision to host two IPL games in Guwahati on March 17, the franchise has decided to use the facilities at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium for a three-day camp that will help them get a hang of conditions in what could turn out to be their second home ground.
Speaking to IANS, sources in the know of development said that the RR boys will train from February 27 to 29 in Guwahati with Robin Uthappa being one of the big names who will be a part of the training sessions which will be overseen by Head of Cricket Zubin Bharucha, batting coach Amol Muzumdar and fielding coach Dishant Yagnik.
"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," the source said.
The BCCI has backed the Royals and made it clear that they have not broken any rules in requesting for a second home venue. Royals play Chennai Super Kings away on April 2 and are scheduled to play in either Jaipur or Guwahati on April 5 against Delhi Capitals, according to the IPL fixtures released a few days back.
Then again on April 9, Royals host Kolkata Knight Riders in Jaipur or Guwahati.
Earlier, when contacted by IANS, a Royals official had made it clear that the move to shift a couple of its games to Guwahati was done keeping in mind a number of factors and it wasn't just aimed at generating more revenues.
"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.
"This apart, we are looking at working at the grassroots level in the northeast and in the coming time, you may see academies being started by us there. So, we are looking at taking the game to the locals there and not to forget our local hero Riyan Parag. We have nothing against anyone and we are positive that the court will understand that we aren't trying to hurt any sentiment by moving a couple of our games from Jaipur to Guwahati," the official said.
