Eden Gardens

Not to be confused with Eden Garden or Garden of Eden.

Eden Gardens
ইডেন গার্ডেন্স

During the KKR vs RCB match; IPL 2011
Ground information
Location	Kolkata
Coordinates	22°33′52″N 88°20′36″E
Establishment	1864
Capacity	90,000 (Standing Capacity: 130,000)
Owner	Cricket Association of Bengal
Operator	Cricket Association of Bengal
Tenants	Indian Cricket Team Bengal cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders
End names
High Court End Pavilion End
International information
First Test	5 Jan - 8 Jan 1934: India v England
Last Test	14 Nov - 17 Nov 2011: India v West Indies
First ODI	18 Feb 1987: India v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	25 Oct 2011: India v England
Domestic team information
Bengal cricket team (present) Kolkata Knight Riders (2008 - present)
As of 14 September 2011 Source: Eden Gardens, Cricinfo

Eden Gardens (Bengali: ইডেন গার্ডেন্স) is a cricket ground in Kolkata (previously called Calcutta), India. It is the home of the Bengal cricket team and the Indian Premier League's Kolkata Knight Riders, as well as being a Test and One Day International ground. It is the largest cricket stadium in India by seating capacity. It is widely acknowledged to be the most iconic cricket stadium in the country and one of the most iconic stadiums in the world. It is the second-largest cricket stadium in the world by seating capacity. Eden Gardens is also quoted as the cricket's answer to the Colosseum. Eden Gardens has hosted 37 Test matches in India.

History

Established in 1864, Eden Gardens currently holds 90,000 people following renovations for the Cricket World Cup 2011; a capacity down from an estimated 100,000 before the upgrade. Prior to the 1987 World Cup, the capacity was said to be approximately 120,000; however, no official figures have been recorded. Nevertheless, it will remain second biggest cricket stadium in the world, behind the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia and Eden Gardens is also the second largest stadium in India behind the Salt Lake Stadium also situated in Kolkata. Before 1984 both cricket and derby football matches were played in Eden Garden. The stadium is located in the Binoy Badal Dinesh Bag(BBD Bag) area of the city, near the State Secretariat and the High Court. The first recorded Test at the venue was held in 1934, and its first One Day International in 1987. Sporting floodlights, bowlers deliver from the High Court End or the Pavilion End of a pitch under curator Probir Mukherjee. Eden Gardens is renowned for its large and vociferous crowds. It is said that "a cricketer's cricketing education is not complete till he has played in front of a packed Eden Gardens." The Club House of the stadium has been named as the B.C. Roy Club House, after former Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal Dr. B. C. Roy. The Headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal are also there at the Eden Gardens. The stadium also hosts Indian Premier League matches and is the home venue for Kolkata Knight Riders co-owned by the Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Notable events

• In 1946, and in-form Mushtaq Ali was dropped from the Indian team selected to play an unofficial test against Australian Services XI. Following crowd protests (with slogans like "No Mushtaq, No Test"), the selectors brought him back to play.
• Rioting has been seen at the ground during the 1966/67 West Indies and 1969/70 Australian tours.
• 16 football lovers died in a stampede after a derby league game between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan on 16 August 1980
• Hosted the memorable World Cup final of 1987 which ended with Australia defeating England by 7 runs.
• The 1996 World Cup semi-final was called off and Sri Lanka awarded the match after crowd disturbances following an Indian batting collapse. a.
• During the 2nd final of the 1997 Pepsi Independence Cup, the Test and ODI captains of the Indian cricket team of all time (with a few notable exceptions) were given a lap of honour around the stadium.
• In 1999, leading Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar was run out after colliding with Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar. The crowd judged that Akhtar had impeded Tendulkar and rioted, forcing the police to evict the spectators. The match continued in front of an empty stadium.
• Kapil Dev took an ODI hat-trick against the Sri Lankans in 1991 at the ground.
• Harbhajan Singh took a hat-trick against Australia in 2000/01 at the ground. He became the first Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket.
• VVS Laxman scored 281 against Australia in 2000/01. This remains the highest score at the ground. Australia were defeated despite holding the advantage for the majority of the game in "the greatest come-from-behind victory of modern times". It was only the third time in Test history that a team had won after being forced to follow on.

Panoramic View of the Stadium during IPL 2008

• The top four highest scores in this stadium has in Test cricket has been registered by India scoring 657-7 in 2001, 643-6 in 2010, 633-5 in 1998 and 631-7 in 2011.
• The most runs here was scored by V.V.S. Laxman(1041 runs), followed by Mohammed Azharuddin(860 runs) and Rahul Dravid(843 runs). The most wickets taken here was by Harbhajan Singh(46 wickets) followed by [Anil Kumble](40 wickets) and [Bishen Singh Bedi](29 wickets).
• The highest score in ODIs here was made by India, who scored 317-3 in 2009. The second highest score was made by Sri Lanka, who scored 315-6 in 2009, the third highest score was again made by Sri Lanka who were all-out for 309 in 1997.
• The most runs scored here by a batsman was by Sachin Tendulkar(496 runs), followed by Mohammed Azharuddin(332 runs) and [Aravinda de Silva](306 runs). The most wickets taken here was by Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev(14 wickets each), followed by [Javgal Srinath](8 wickets) and Ajit Agarkar(7 wickets).
• VVS Laxman and Mohd.Azharuddhin have scored 5 centuries each at this venue,the last being the unbeaten 176 by Laxman.

Renovation

The ground before Cricket World Cup 2011 renovation

Eden Gardens underwent renovation for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Renovation has been undertaken to meet the standards set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the 2011 World Cup. The Cricket Association of Bengal retained the team of Burt Hill and VMS to renovate the Eden Garden Cricket Stadium. The renovated stadium includes a new clubhouse and players' facilities, upgrading the exterior wall to give the stadium a new look, cladding the existing roof structure with a new metal skin, new/upgraded patron amenities and signage, and general infrastructure improvements. In addition to being a stadium set to host the Cricket World Cup in 2011, the structure will also meet the programmatic needs of the regular season and special events.

Due to unsafe conditions arising from the incomplete renovations, the ICC withdrew the India vs. England match from the Eden Gardens. This match, scheduled on 27 February 2011, was played in Bengaluru at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, which resulted in a tie with both teams making 338 after 50 overs. It remains as the only match to end in a tie after the designated overs.

The stadium hosted the remaining three scheduled World Cup 2011 Matches on 15th, 18 and 20 March 2011. In the last of these three matches (Kenya vs Zimbabwe), the stadium had the minimal ticket-purchasing crowd in its recorded history with 15 spectators having bought tickets.

Cricket World Cup

This stadium has hosted One Day International (ODI) matches during 1987 Cricket World Cup, 1996 Cricket World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup

One Day International Matches

List of ODI matches hosted at Eden Gardens.

Team (A)	Team (B)	Winner	Margin	Match Date
India	Pakistan	Pakistan	2 wickets	Feb 18, 1987
New Zealand	Zimbabwe	New Zealand	4 wickets	Oct 23, 1987
Australia	England	Australia	7 runs	Nov 8, 1987
India	West Indies	India	56 runs	Jan 2, 1988
India	Pakistan	Pakistan	77 runs	Oct 28, 1989
Pakistan	West Indies	Pakistan	4 wickets	Nov 1, 1989
Bangladesh	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	71 runs	Dec 31, 1990
India	Sri Lanka	India	7 wickets	Jan 4, 1991
India	South Africa	India	3 wickets	Nov 10, 1991
India	South Africa	India	2 runs	Nov 24, 1993
Sri Lanka	West Indies	West Indies	7 wickets	Nov 25, 1993
India	West Indies	India	102 runs	Nov 27, 1993
India	West Indies	India	72 runs	Nov 5, 1994
India	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	Unknown	Mar 13, 1996
Pakistan	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	85 runs	May 27, 1997
India	Kenya	India	9 wickets	May 31, 1998
India	England	India	22 runs	Jan 19, 2002
India	Australia	Australia	37 runs	Nov 18, 2003
India	Pakistan	Pakistan	6 wickets	Nov 13, 2004
India	South Africa	South Africa	10 wickets	Nov 25, 2005
India	Sri Lanka	No result	N/A	Feb 8, 2007
India	Sri Lanka	India	7 wickets	Dec 24, 2009
Ireland	South Africa	South Africa	131 runs	Mar 15, 2011
Ireland	Netherlands	Ireland	6 wickets	Mar 18, 2011
Kenya	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	161 runs	Mar 20, 2011
India	England	India	95 runs	Oct 25, 2011

Test Matches

List of Test matches hosted at Eden Gardens.

Team (A)	Team (B)	Winner	Margin	Match Date
India	England	drawn	N/A	Jan 5-8, 1934
India	West Indies	drawn	N/A	Dec 31, 1948 - Jan 4, 1949
India	England	drawn	N/A	Dec 30, 1951 - Jan 4, 1952
India	Pakistan	drawn	N/A	Dec 12-15, 1952
India	New Zealand	drawn	N/A	Dec 28, 1955 - Jan 2, 1956
India	Australia	Australia	94 runs	Nov 2-6, 1956
India	West Indies	West Indies	inns & 336 runs	Dec 31, 1958 - Jan 4, 1959
India	Australia	drawn	N/A	Jan 23-28, 1960
India	Pakistan	drawn	N/A	Dec 30, 1960 - Jan 4, 1961
India	England	India	187 runs	Dec 30, 1961 - Jan 4, 1962
India	England	drawn	N/A	Jan 29-Feb 3, 1964
India	Australia	drawn	N/A	Oct 17-22, 1964
India	New Zealand	drawn	N/A	Mar 5-8, 1965
India	West Indies	West Indies	inns & 45 runs	Dec 31, 1966 - Jan 5, 1967
India	Australia	Australia	10 wickets	Dec 12-16, 1969
India	England	India	28 runs	Dec 30, 1972 - Jan 4, 1973
India	West Indies	India	85 runs	Dec 27, 1974 - Jan 1, 1975
India	England	England	10 wickets	Jan 1-6, 1977
India	West Indies	drawn	N/A	Dec 29, 1978 - Jan 3, 1979
India	Australia	drawn	N/A	Oct 26-31, 1979
India	Pakistan	drawn	N/A	Jan 29-Feb 3, 1980
India	England	drawn	N/A	Jan 1-6, 1982
India	West Indies	West Indies	inns & 46 runs	Dec 10-14, 1983
India	England	drawn	N/A	Dec 31, 1984 - Jan 5, 1985
India	Pakistan	drawn	N/A	Feb 11-16, 1987
India	West Indies	drawn	N/A	Dec 26-31, 1987
India	England	India	8 wickets	Jan 29-Feb 2, 1993
India	South Africa	South Africa	329 runs	Nov 27-Dec 1, 1996
India	Australia	India	inns & 219 runs	Mar 18-21, 1998
India	Pakistan	Pakistan	46 runs	Feb 16-20, 1999
India	Australia	India	171 runs	Mar 11-15, 2001
India	West Indies	drawn	N/A	Oct 30-Nov 3, 2002
India	South Africa	India	8 wickets	Nov 28-Dec 2, 2004
India	Pakistan	India	195 runs	Mar 16-20, 2005
India	Pakistan	drawn	N/A	Nov 30-Dec 4, 2007
India	South Africa	India	inns & 57 runs	Feb 14-18, 2010
India	West Indies	India	inns & 15 runs	Nov 14-17, 2011

See also

• List of international cricket centuries at Eden Gardens

External links

• Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium Kolkata, India - Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium Seating Layout
• CricketArchive statistics for Eden gardens