India vs Australia: Excited Guwahati awaits Barsapara Stadium's international debut as teams arrive for 2nd T20I

About a thousand fans gathered at the airport to catch the arrival of the two teams as the city prepared itself for its first international match after a gap of seven years.

PTI, Oct, 08 2017

Guwahati: The Indian and Australian cricket teams arrived in Guwahati on Sunday for the second T20 match at the newly-built Barsapara Stadium, which is getting ready to make its international debut.

Representational image. Getty

Representational image. Getty

About a thousand fans gathered at the airport to catch the arrival of the two teams as the city prepared itself for its first international match after a gap of seven years.

From India's 2011 World Cup win to a new era under Virat Kohli, much has changed since Guwahati hosted its last international match way back on 28 November, 2010 when India beat New Zealand by 40 runs in an ODI.

The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) also has moved from the Nehru Stadium and 37,000 capacity Barsapara Stadium now has become the new cricketing destination of the city.

Tickets for the match have been sold out well in advance and there is a long demand for more but ACA secretary Pradip Buragohain sounded helpless.

"The day has finally arrived," Buragohain told PTI while conducting a series of meetings for the smooth conduct of the match.

"We hope this is just the beginning and there are more to come."

The mood was evident as fans shouted 'India India' at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport when both the teams arrived in the evening by a chartered flight.

Such was the craze that they did not even spare cricketer-turned-commentator Brett Lee, who was mobbed while coming out of the airport before being escorted by police.

There will be an official opening of the ACA Barsapara Stadium by Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal ahead of the match and many VVIPs, including governor Jagdish Mukhi, have been invited.

India are 1-0 up in the series after the win in Ranchi on Saturday and would look to seal the series in Guwahati before the two teams head to Hyderabad for the last match.

Published Date: Oct 08, 2017 | Updated Date: Oct 08, 2017



Rank Team Points Rating
1 India 4493 125
2 South Africa 3395 110
3 England 4497 105
4 New Zealand 3114 97
5 Australia 3294 97
Rank Team Points Rating
1 India 5993 120
2 South Africa 5957 119
3 Australia 5948 114
4 England 6156 114
5 New Zealand 5123 111
Rank Team Points Rating
1 New Zealand 1625 125
2 England 1962 123
3 Pakistan 2417 121
4 West Indies 2222 117
5 India 2183 115