Introduction
The current capacity of the Eden Gardens Cricket Ground stands at 80,000. Which makes it one of the biggest stadiums in India with respect to the maximum possible number of spectators. Not just that, many famous cricketers have praised the local crowd including the likes of Steve Waugh, Dileep Vengsarkar, and Sourav Ganguly.
Many ICC World Cup matches have also been played in this stadium that we will be discussing later. Now, let’s talk a bit about the ground’s history. The current owner as many of you may have guessed, is WBCA (West Bengal Cricket Association).
History
The stadium is being used since 1864 and it was named after a nearby park, Eden Gardens. As you might have guessed, the park or garden was named ‘Eden’ after the biblical legend of Adam and Eve.
Here is the list of first matches in each format that were played in the stadium.
| Format | Debut Match |
| Test | 5th January 1934 |
| ODI | 18th February 1987 |
| T20I | 20th October 2011 |
Yes, the history of formal international cricket in the stadium goes back to 1934.
ICC World Cup Matches
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1987
A couple of matches were played in this world cup out of which none were that of India.
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1996
Only one match was played that between Sri Lanka and India but the game could not be concluded as the crowd started to riot in the stands.
-
2011
Three matches were played in this world cup and again, none had to do anything with India. However, India went on to win the title for the 2nd time.
Team Score Records
| Test Cricket | ODI Cricket | T20I | |
| Highest | 657 (India) | 404 (India) | 201 (Pakistan) |
| Lowest | 90 (India) | 120 (India) | 70 (Bangladesh) |
Notable Moments
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Crowd Booed Indian Team
Yes, the local crowd did boo the Indian team in 2005 as Sourav Ganguly was dropped from that particular match. This happened because Kolkata happens to be Sourav’s hometown.
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Sachin Tendulkar’s 10,000th Cricket Run
He achieved this feat against the Pakistan cricket team and became the second Indian ever to do so.
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Rohit Sharma 264
Rohit created an ODI world record in terms of the highest individual score on 13th November 2014. To date, this record stays unbroken and perhaps will stay so for a long time to come.
Interesting Facts
- It is also the home ground of the IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders.
- When the ban from the South African cricket team was lifted (that was there because of the government’s policy of apartheid), the South African played their first match here.
- Kapil Dev once took a hat-trick in this stadium in 1991.
- It used to have a bigger capacity in terms of the maximum number of spectators than what it has now (1,20,000). This changed after the 2011 renovation project.
- The first-ever test hat trick by an Indian bowler was also taken here by spinner Harbhajan Singh.
- The highest test score by a batsman is 281 by VVS Laxman. The match in which he did this is also considered to be one the best test matches ever in the history of cricket.
