Barsapara Stadium rewarded for IPL 2026 [Source: AFP]The home ground of the Rajasthan Royals franchise has just received a huge cash reward from the state association amid the ongoing IPL 2026 season. On Sunday, April 12, the Assam Cricket Association announced a lucrative cash bonus for the entire ground staff of the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati for successfully hosting three matches of the tournament. While hosting three matches of a season seems regulatory on paper, the venue constantly faced several challenges with the weather, prompting the groundsmen and the curators to work overtime. Barsapara ground staff signs off from IPL 2026 with huge reward The Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati continued to serve as the secondary home ground of the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026. As per the official schedule, the iconic venue has hosted the first three ‘home’ matches of the season for the franchise. Also Read- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi To Be Punished For Romi Bhinder's Act? BCCI Issues Official StatementNotably, despite facing challenges with an uncertain weather, the stadium ended up successfully hosting each of the three planned fixtures as scheduled, largely owing to the commitment and hard work put forth by the groundsmen and curators. On Sunday, April 12, the Assam Cricket Association announced a cash reward of Rs. 25 lakhs for the ground staff for hosting the three matches successfully.Gaurav Gupta @toi_gauravG Assam Cricket Association announces ₹25 Lakh cash reward for Ground Staff after 3 Successful @IPL Matches "Working under challenging weather conditions, curators and groundsmen ensured that the pitches were prepared and maintained to the highest standards. Their efforts were Apr 12, 2026, 6:25 PM In an official statement, Association president Taranga Gogoi acknowledged the overtime efforts of the ground members by saying “Working under challenging weather conditions, curators and groundsmen ensured that the pitches were prepared and maintained to the highest standards. Their efforts were central to the smooth conduct of the matches and helped uphold the venue’s growing reputation on the national stage. In recognition of their contribution, the association has announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh for the curator and grounds men.”Honorary secretary Sanatan Das also praised the ground staff of the Barsapara Stadium, hailing their “professionalism” and “commitment” to the cause of hosting the three Rajasthan Royals games in IPL 2026. How Barsapara panned out in IPL 2026 The Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati hosted match number three of the IPL 2026 season, which also happened to be the opening match for the Rajasthan Royals. While the match faced no rain intervals, heavy rains at the stadium a day before soddened the playing field and prevented the team’s training sessions on March 29. More rains on April 7 forced match officials to reduce the Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians game to an 11-overs-a-side affair, which the hosts ended up winning by 27 runs courtesy of a record 32-ball 77* from Yashasvi Jaiswal. On April 10, persistent rain caused a delayed start to the Rajasthan Royals vs RCB fixture. However, the ground staff’s prompt and efficient intervention ensured that the match began after only a 45-minute delay, without the loss of any overs. Rajasthan Royals to return to Jaipur Hitherto unbeaten and table-toppers Rajasthan Royals will now fly to Hyderabad, Kolkata and Lucknow to take on hosts SRH, KKR and LSG respectively over the next 10 days. However, the franchise will subsequently be making its return to its primary home ground, i.e., the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur for their remaining home fixtures of the IPL 2026 season.Also Read- Josh Hazlewood Dropped; Hardik Pandya's MI Win Toss, Ask RCB To Bat First
