{"id":6667,"date":"2026-03-14T00:07:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T00:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=6667"},"modified":"2026-03-14T00:07:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T00:07:44","slug":"129551417-cms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=6667","title":{"rendered":"\u2018What\u2019s their connection with Guwahati?\u2019: Former India cricketer questions Rajasthan Royals\u2019 strategy | Cricket News &#8211; The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-articlebody=\"1\">\n<div class=\"_s30J clearfix  \">\n<div class=\"MwN2O\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"T22zO\">\n<section class=\"D3Wk1  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  VtlfQ \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"D3Wk1\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"zPaFh\">\n<div class=\"wJnIp\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-129551443,imgsize-159386,width-400,resizemode-4\/new-chandigarh-rajasthan-royals39-sandeep-sharma-with-teammates-celebrates-the-w.jpg\" alt=\"\u2018What\u2019s their connection with Guwahati?\u2019: Former India cricketer questions Rajasthan Royals\u2019 strategy\" title=\"Rajasthan Royals (PTI Photo\/Kamal Kishore)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cj2hz img_cptn\"><span title=\"Rajasthan Royals (PTI Photo\/Kamal Kishore)\">Rajasthan Royals (PTI Photo\/Kamal Kishore)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/aakash-chopra\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Aakash Chopra<\/a> has raised questions over <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/rajasthan-royals\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Rajasthan Royals<\/a> staging three of their seven home matches away from Jaipur in Guwahati during the upcoming season of the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/indian-premier-league\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Indian Premier League<\/a>. The former India opener said he finds it difficult to understand the logic behind the franchise shifting a large portion of their home fixtures to a venue that, in his view, has little historical connection with the team.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/>Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out the geographical distance between Rajasthan and Assam, arguing that the two regions lie on opposite sides of the country. He suggested that the move feels unusual for a team that represents Rajasthan, although he acknowledged that current captain <!-- -->Riyan Parag<!-- --> hails from Assam.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>\u201cTwo teams are getting three games apiece at home. One of them are the Rajasthan Royals, who don\u2019t play at home at all. I have never understood their story to date, as to what their system is. Their home away from home is in Guwahati. All three of their games are in Guwahati. I am wondering what their connection with Guwahati is,\u201d said Chopra on his YouTube channel.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>\u201cThe team\u2019s name is Rajasthan Royals. Rajasthan is in the west of India. Guwahati is in the east of India. It\u2019s understandable if Kolkata want to go there, as it\u2019s their catchment area. You can still understand the affiliation for Guwahati since Riyan Parag is the captain now, but this team has nothing to do with Guwahati in any way,\u201d he added.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (<!-- -->BCCI<!-- -->) recently unveiled the first-phase schedule for the 2026 IPL season. The tournament will begin on March 28 with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru hosting Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>The second fixture will see Mumbai Indians take on Kolkata Knight Riders. As for the Royals, their campaign will begin against <!-- -->Chennai Super Kings<!-- --> in Guwahati.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Rajasthan Royals IPL 2026 schedule \u2013 first phase<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"30\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"cdatainfo   id-r-component \" data-pos=\"31\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Date<\/th>\n<th>Day<\/th>\n<th>Match<\/th>\n<th>Venue<\/th>\n<th>Time<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>30 Mar<\/td>\n<td>Mon<\/td>\n<td>Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings<\/td>\n<td>Guwahati<\/td>\n<td>7:30 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4 Apr<\/td>\n<td>Sat<\/td>\n<td>Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals<\/td>\n<td>Ahmedabad<\/td>\n<td>7:30 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7 Apr<\/td>\n<td>Tue<\/td>\n<td>Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians<\/td>\n<td>Guwahati<\/td>\n<td>7:30 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>10 Apr<\/td>\n<td>Fri<\/td>\n<td>Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru<\/td>\n<td>Guwahati<\/td>\n<td>7:30 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div data-type=\"in_view\" class=\"O6hu2 tHlBa  \"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/microsite_v2\/website-toisa,path-book_pass_2026.cms?utm_source=TOI&amp;utm_medium=Masthead_sports\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" rel=\"noopener\" frmappuse=\"1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Banner Insert\" imgsize=\"23456\" resizemode=\"4\" title=\"\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdersrc=\"\" placeholdermsid=\"\" msid=\"\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/129493222.cms\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/cricket\/ipl\/top-stories\/whats-their-connection-with-guwahati-former-india-cricketer-questions-rajasthan-royals-strategy\/articleshow\/129551417.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rajasthan Royals (PTI Photo\/Kamal Kishore) Aakash Chopra has raised questions over Rajasthan Royals staging three&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3974,2600,2339,4479,3167,17374],"class_list":["post-6667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aakash-chopra","tag-bcci","tag-chennai-super-kings","tag-indian-premier-league","tag-rajasthan-royals","tag-riyan-parag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}