The Rajasthan Royals played their first home game of the Indian Premier League 2025 season on Wednesday, however, instead of Jaipur, they played in Guwahati's ACA Stadium, which also serves as their home venue. The reigning champions, the Kolkata Knight Riders, defeatedthe  Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets.

Cricketer-turned-analyst Aakash Chopra has stated that the Rajasthan Royals' decision to arrange their home games was "difficult to wrap your head around".

“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 mentioned that the ground at Guwahati's ACA Stadium was not suited to the Rajasthan Royals' strengths and would have favored the visiting club from Kolkata.

“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.”

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