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Eden Garden is one of the most famous, oldest, legendary, and popular cricket stadiums in the world. Eden Gardens in Kolkata is the second-largest stadium in India and the third-largest in the world.
This iconic stadium has world-class facilities with an overall seating capacity of 68,000
Eden Garden is known for its electrifying atmosphere during matches where cricket fans from all over the world come to watch their team in action.
Eden Garden is also referred to with many names, it is called the “ Mecca of Indian Cricket”. Former Aussie Captain Steve Waugh considers the Eden Gardens as the “ Lords of the subcontinent “.
Ground Information
| Established | 1864 |
| Capacity | 68,000 current 100,000 (1987-2010) 40,000 (before 1987) |
| End Names | High Court End Pavilion End |
| Floodlight | 4 |
| Owner | Eastern Command of the Indian Army |
| Stands | Colonel Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair Stand Havildar Hangpan Dada Stand Lieutenant Colonel Dhan Singh Thapa Stand Subedar Joginder Singh Sahnan Stand Sourav Ganguly Stand Pankaj Roy Stand BN Dutt Stand Jagmohan Dalmiya Stand |
Eden Garden Kolkata Stadium Map
History of Eden Gardens Kolkata
The Eden Garden was originally a park for the Royals, it was established In 1842. Originally it was called the Auckland Circus Garden.
George Eden who was popularly known as Earl of Auckland or Lord Auckland was appointed as the Governor General of India in 1834.
Auckland came to India with his two sisters Emily and Fanny Eden. Both the sisters were uncomfortable with the hot and humid climate of India hence they decide to come up with a garden.
As per the British archives “Baboo Rajchunder Doss, husband of Rani Rashmoni gifted the land towards the south of Baboo Ghat to Eden Family. The Eden family had helped them to save their third daughter from a deadly disease.
The two sisters decided to make some changes to this landscape and make it pleasing. They set up lawns, flower gardens, fountains, and palm trees. Soon a lot of attractions were added to the park such as boating, a bandstand where a band regularly performed for the evening visitors, the garden was illuminated with electric lights way before electricity was commonly available.
Auckland himself could not enjoy the park for long, after an unbelievable loss in the Anglo-Afghan war the East India Company’s board directors decided to send Auckland back.
After the exit of Lord Auckland from India the park was renamed Eden Gardens.
In 1825 the Calcutta Cricket Club got a plot to be used as a cricket ground. In 1841, permission was granted to the club to enclose the ground with a fence. In 1864 considering the stadium as a recreation zone in the Eden Gardens with cricket as a part of that the legacy of the oldest cricket ground began.
International Information
| First Test | 05-08 January 1934 India vs England |
| First ODI | 18 February 1987 India vs Pakistan |
| First T20I | 29 October 2011 India vs England |
| First WODI | 01 January 1978 India vs England |
| Only WT20I | 03 April 2016 Australia vs West Indies |
Renovation of Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium Kolkata
To keep up with the changing time Eden Gardens has undergone several renovations and changes/upgrades. The floodlights were equipped in the stadium in 1993 to facilitate day-night matches.
In 1987, for the World Cup the stadium’s capacity was increased from 40,000 to 1,00,000 this was a major change where 42 new columns were added to provide support for the multi-tiered covered stand and the roof.
Eden Gardens underwent renovation in 2011 to meet the standards set by ICC for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The upgrades include a new clubhouse, player’s facilities, a new and improved roof structure, signage, and upgrading the exterior walls to give the stadium a brand new look. Following this upgrade, the stadium capacity was reduced to 68,000.
ICC withdrew India vs England match from the Eden Gardens scheduled on 27 February 2011 due to the unsafe conditions arising from the incomplete renovation of the stadium. India vs England match was played in the M Chinnaswamy Stadium Bangalore.
The remaining schedule of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup in Eden Gardens was played according to the schedule. This stadium witnesses the lowest ticket-purchasing crowd in its record history with only 15 spectators having brought a ticket for the Kenya vs Zimbabwe match in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
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Eden Garden Kolkata Pitch Report
The pitch at Eden Gardens is known to be batting-friendly. However, the batsmen have to be careful initially as there is some grass left on the pitch which will assist the pacers.
In test cricket, the team winning the toss will probably choose to bowl first due to some grass left on the pitch which will initially help the pacers. As the game progresses the track becomes easier to bat on and on the fourth and fifth days due to the foot marks of the bowlers, the ball starts to turn sharply and will be difficult to bat on the fifth day.
World Cup Matches at Eden Gardens Kolkata
Eden Gardens has a rich history of cricket and has hosted a total of 14 Cricket World Cup Matches across all formats of men’s and women’s cricket.
A total of 6 Cricket World Cup matches were witnessed on this ground 1987 (2), 1996 (1), 2011 (3).
The stadium has also hosted 2 Women’s Cricket World Cup matches and one Women’s T20I match.
The stadium has to date hosted 4 finals (1987 Cricket World Cup, 2016 T20I, 1997 Women’s Cricket World Cup, and 2016 Women’s T20I).
1987 ICC Cricket World Cup
- Zimbabwe vs New Zealand
- Australia vs England
1996 ICC Cricket World Cup
- Sri Lanka vs India
2011 ICC Cricket World Cup
- South Africa vs Ireland
- Netherlands vs Ireland
- Zimbabwe vs Kenya
2016 ICC World T20
- Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka
- Pakistan vs Bangladesh
- Pakistan vs India
- New Zealand vs Bangladesh
- England vs West Indies
1978 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup
- India vs England
1997 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup
- New Zealand vs Australia
2016 ICC Women’s World Twenty20
- Australia vs West Indies
Memorable Matches at Eden Gardens Kolkata
India vs South Africa – 1993 Hero Cup Semifinal.
This is team India’s one of most famous victories from the 1990s in limited-overs cricket. The Indian team defeated just 195 against South Africa and progressed to the finals of the Hero Cup. This is one of the matches where Sachin did not contribute with the bat but he ensured victory for India with the ball.
India won the toss and choose to bat but the Indian top order completely collapsed Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin came to the rescue and almost scored half of the team’s total. Azharuddin scored 90 runs from 118 balls, and Pravin Amre scored 48 of 90 balls to take the team’s total to 195 runs.
With just 196 runs needed South Africa was racing towards victory with 106/3 at one stage. Suddenly the South African team lost their next four wickets in quick sessions by adding just 39 more runs to the scoreboard. In the end, the match came down to the last over with six needed and two wickets in hand.
Skipper Azhar surprised everyone in the last over by handing over the ball to Sachin instead of Manoj Prabhakar and Javagal Shrinath who had 2 overs left. Sachin did not disappoint the Indian fans and bowled a tight over in which he conceded just 3 runs. India had managed to pull out a victory by 2 runs from nowhere.
India vs Australia – 2001 Test
During India vs Australia Test series in 2001, India lost the first match and was under immense pressure as they were asked to follow on.
But what followed was a masterpiece from VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. The duo batted throughout the fourth day and were involved in a triple-century stand.
Laxman registered the then-highest individual test score for an Indian batsman. He was just 19 runs short of a triple century (281 runs). Dravid made a classic 180 in this match and a target of 384 on the final day of the test was set for the Australians.
Chasing a target of 212 Australia started well with 106/1. Suddenly the Australian batting lineup collapsed for 212 all-out. Harbhajan Singh took a total of 13 wickets in this test match including a hat-trick in the first innings. This victory is remembered as India’s greatest Test Win.
It was only the third time in the history of Test Cricket that a team managed to win despite follow-on.
India vs Sri Lanka – 2014 ODI
This is one of the most one-sided and one-man show matches but will be remembered in history for a long time. It was a match where the highest score from an individual in ODI cricket was registered. In this match Rohit Sharma scored 264 runs from 173 balls this is the highest individual score in ODI cricket.
Rohit initially was struggling in this match and was dropped while he was at 4 runs from 16 balls, Rohit further went on to score 264. Rohit’s 264 includes 33 fours and 9 sixes with a strike rate of 152. Rohit became the first and only batsman to register two double-hundreds in ODI cricket.
In reply, Sri Lanka started with a scorecard of 48/4 by the 10th over and the contest was virtually dead. Sri Lanka managed to score 251 runs 13 runs less than Rohit Sharma’s Individual score.
Eden Gardens Kolkata Notable Events
- Brazil football legend Pele played in the Eden Gardens, this happened in 1977 when New York Cosmos played a Football match against Mohun Bagan. Pele was a part of the Cosmos team
- The Stadium hosted the initial matches of the inaugural edition of the Nehru Cup 1982
- Eden Gardens hosted the Nehru Cup in 1984 where Indian Football played against Poland, China, and Argentina.
- Hosted the Cricket World Cup 1987 Final, this was the first ever Cricket World Cup Final hosted outside England.
- During the 1996 World Cup Semi-Finals the match was called off due to crowd disturbances. The match was between India and Sri Lanka and this incident occurred following the Indian Batting Collapse.
- In 1999 during a match between India vs Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar was run out after colliding with Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar. The crowd erupted and rioted as Akhtar impeded Tendulkar. The police then forced the spectators out of the stadium and the match was further continued in front of an empty stadium.
- Kapil Dev registered an ODI hat-trick against Sri Lanka in 1991 at this venue.
- Harbhajan Singh took a hat-trick in Test cricket against Australia in 2000 and became the first-ever Indian to register a hat-trick in Test Cricket.
- During the 2000/01 Border-Gavaskar Trophy VVS Laxman scored 281 runs which is the highest score at this venue in the same match Rahul Dravid scored 180 runs against Australia. The duo batted throughout Day 4 without losing their wickets and registered a 376 runs partnership. Australia went on to lose the match despite giving India a follow-on. This was only the third time in Test Cricket a team had emerged victorious despite a follow-on.
- In 2005 against Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar completed his 10,000-run mark in Test cricket on this ground. Sachin was the second Indian and fifth overall to achieve this mark.
- Rohit Sharma registered the highest-ever score (264 off 173 balls) by a batsman in ODI cricket on this venue against Sri Lanka.
- This stadium hosted the 200th home test match of India in 2005
- This stadium hosted the 250th home test match of India in 2016
- Ravindra Jadeja became the first Indian left-arm spinner to register 150 ODI wickets, he achieved this feat by taking the wicket of Sam Billings on 21 September 2017.
- On 21 September 2017, Kuldeep Yadav registered a hat-trick in an ODI match against Australia. He was the third bowler for India to register an ODI hattrick after Chetan Sharma and Kapil Dev.
- India’s first-ever Day/night test match was hosted at this venue against Bangladesh on November 22, 2019.
Eden Garden Kolkata Stadium Location
Eden Gardens Kolkata Official Website
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Eden Garden Stadium Kolkata FAQ
Q) What is the capacity of Eden Garden Stadium in Kolkata
The current capacity of Eden Garden Stadium is 68,000 seats.
Previously when it was built it had a total capacity of 40,000 till 1987, for the World Cup the stadium further underwent renovation and was upgraded with an overall seating capacity of 1,00,000. In 2010 it was again renovated to match the guidelines of ICC for the 2011 Cricket World Cup and its seating capacity was decreased to 68,000.
Q) Eden Garden Kolkata Pitch Report
The pitch at Eden Garden is historically known to be Batting-friendly. This pitch offers good bounce and initially, the seamers will get help from the pitch as there is a bit of grass left on the pitch but as the game progresses it become easier to bat and the pitch becomes slow. The spinners will also come into play as the game progresses.
Q) Where is Eden Garden Kolkata Stadium located?
You can find the stadium at the following address Maidan, B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal 700021.