Guwahati: It has been more than a three-year wait since Guwahati first got the rights to host an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic threw cold water to the Assam Cricket Association’s (ACA) plans.
On Wednesday, when the dream finally turned into a reality with Rajasthan Royals hosting Punjab Kings for the first ever IPL contest in the Northeast region, little did the organisers expect that the Barsapara Cricket Stadium won’t be a jam-packed venue.
A lukewarm response from the Guwahati crowd isn’t anything to be surprised about, considering it’s a mid-week game. While the organisers have left no stone unturned to make the event a grand success with a cultural show followed by a mid-game laser show to enthrall the 70 per cent crowd present in the stadium.
EastMojo spoke to a few enthusiastic fans who are happy that the IPL has finally made its way to the North East, and expect a ‘home team’ in the near future.
“Of course we are rooting for the Rajasthan Royals side, but somewhere I have a special liking for Shikhar Dhawan and Arshdeep Singh. We’re happy that IPL is finally in Assam, we’ve waited for it for a long long time,” said Rishabh and Samridhi, dressed in RR colours.
“Whoever wins doesn’t matter, what matters is it took 15 years for the IPL to reach the Northeast…next we hope we have a team from the region,” another cricket enthusiast Ritesh said.
“This is just the start of a new era in cricket in the North East, it was due for a long time. It’s been more than a decade since we have been watching the IPL on TV, but thanks to the ACA they managed to get two games here. We hope to have a few more games next season,” said Abhishek, a die-hard fan of MS Dhoni, dressed in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) jersey.
An odd one out among the crowd, Abhishek doesn’t mind which teams are in action but wants to keep his loyalties intact for the former India captain.
Ringing in the spirits of the upcoming Rongali Bihu, folk songs replaced the Bollywood-Punjabi remixes —with cheerleaders on the fences managing their grooves to near perfection. While the weather gods permitted a full game, despite last night’s showers almost throwing a spanner to the organisers’ efforts, the home skipper Sanju Samson did not want to take any chances and opted to field on what eventually turned out to be a flat deck.
For the first 10 overs, Samson must have been cursing himself with Prabhsimran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan showing no mercy to the famed RR bowling, led by New Zealand’s Trent Boult. Prabhsimran showed why he is rated among the best-emerging talents in the country, when he launched KM Asia to the third tier before the Punjab Kings captain warmed himself up with back-to-back boundaries off Boult, to forge together a solid 90-run stand for the opening wicket.
All Rajasthan needed was a special effort from Englishman Jos Buttler, whose sensational catch diving forward after charging in from long-off, ended the stand with Prabhsimran’s scalp after the Patiala lad slammed a 34-ball 60. Dhawan, however, went in from strength to strength to guide the team to a formidable 197/4 and went back undefeated with a 56-ball 86.
In response, Rajasthan Royals paid the price for tweaking their opening combo, with Ravichandran Ashwin getting a duck while accompanying Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top. Buttler failed to lit up the evening sky with his fireworks before Samson’s 25-ball 42 steadied the ship for a while but the Punjab pacers Arshdeep Singh and Nathan Ellis made the home side dance to their tunes by sharing six wickets between them.
EASTMOJO PREMIUM
Help sustain honest journalism.
Local lad Riyan Parag, who arrived to a rousing welcome from the crowd, slammed two sixes during his brief 12-ball 20 but failed to take the team over the line and eventually the Men-in-Pink fell 5-runs short, to suffer their first defeat of the tournament.
The Royals will next take on Delhi Capitals in their second and final encounter at their adopted home venue in Guwahati on Saturday.
Also Read | Halla Bol! Guwahati set for IPL debut but fear of rain interruptions loom large