‘Difficult to wrap your head around it’: Aakash Chopra’s frank opinion on Rajasthan Royals home ground

Cricketer-turned-analyst Aakash Chopra has pointed out that the way that the Rajasthan Royals team had opted to structure their home games was “difficult to wrap your head around”. The Rajasthan Royals played their first home game of the Indian Premier League 2025 season on Wednesday, but instead of Jaipur, the game was played in Guwahati’s ACA Stadium, which is also their home ground. Rajasthan Royals lost the game by an eight-wicket margin to the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

“While I understand the urge to spread the game and take it to different pockets of the country (and Guwahati has a lot of love for the game), it’s difficult to wrap your head around that the fact that the people living in Rajasthan will get to see their team play at Jaipur first time on the 13th of April. Three weeks after the tournament starts,” Chopra posted on his X handle after the IPL game on Wednesday.

He also pointed out how the pitch at Guwahati’s ACA Stadium was not suited for Rajasthan Royals’ strengths but instead would have favoured the visiting team from Kolkata.

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Rajasthan Royals players huddle during their Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) match
against Kolkata Knight Riders at ACA Stadium, Guwahati. (Sportzpics for IPL)

“The pitch at Guwahati doesn’t look like the one that suits Rajasthan Royals’ strengths either. They need belters and let batters win games,” he added.

In another post on X, Chopra wrote: “Guwahati is not just closer to Kolkata than it is to Rajasthan…but also, the track is closest to the one that KKR is asking for at the Eden Gardens.”

Wednesday’s IPL 2025 result meant that the Royals are now winless after two games in the season. They had lost to the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening encounter by 44 runs.

Rajasthan Royals will next host the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings on March 30 (Sunday) at Guwahati’s ACA Stadium.