Rajasthan Royals haven't won the IPL since their triumph in the inaugural season of 2008. © BCCI

The Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati will make its IPL debut in the forthcoming season of the T20 tournament after the IPL governing council granted the Rajasthan Royals permission to host the first two of their seven home games.

The Royals will welcome Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders at their new home venue on April 5 and 8 respectively. Both the games will be 8PM games, as per the council's decision to maintain the 4PM and 8PM start times for the afternoon and evening games for the season.

This is not the first instance of the Royals playing their home games away from their base at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. They have previously ventured away during the 2010 (Ahmedabad) and 2015 (Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Brabourne Stadium) seasons and have sought newer venues to maximise their footprint alongside the obvious benefit of increased footfall and gate receipt - the Jaipur Stadium has a max capacity under 30,000.

For this season, the franchise reviewed multiple stadiums in Trivandrum, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Mumbai to play their optional home matches before pencilling in on Guwahati.

"We as a team, as a family, are very excited of the historic decision that we have collectively made in an attempt to take cricket to a region that was deprived of it for a long time," said Ranjit Barthakur, Executive Chairman for Rajasthan Royals.

"The idea is to give the fans from across India the opportunity to come and experience a fantastic match-day at the stadiums. Having a spread over Rajasthan and Guwahati will give more choice to fans from the Northeast, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and adjoining areas to get an incredible stadium experience."

Owner Manoj Badale added: "Last season, we witnessed the enthusiasm of the people from the Northeast when the young gun of Assam, Riyan Parag played many impactful innings for our team. The region that once lacked resources and facilities for cricket has seen so much growth, investing funding from the BCCI very effectively. The stadium is top quality and therefore we feel the time is right to grow our Royals' family and get the love and support from fans across the Northeast."

The champions of the inaugural season of the tournament are also scheduled to host a pre-tournament preparatory camp in Guwahati. The Steve Smith-led Rajasthan Royals open their 2020 campaign away to Chennai Super Kings on April 2 before their journey to the North East of India.