Eden Gardens is an international cricket stadium in Kolkata, India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest
Eden Gardens is often referred to as home of Indian cricket and has also been described as "cricket's answer to the Colosseum"
Stadium history
The stadium was established in 1864. The origins of its name are uncertain. According to some, the stadium is named after the Eden Gardens park where it is located, itself named after the Eden sisters,
Emily Eden and Fanny, of Lord Auckland, the Governor-General of India (1836–1842).
Initially named the 'Auckland Circus Gardens',
the park was renamed to the 'Eden Gardens' in 1841.
However, according to popular culture, Babu Rajchandra Das, the zamindar (landlord) of Janbazar and husband of Rani Rashmoni, gifted one of his biggest gardens, Mar Bagan, besides the river Hooghly River, to Lord Auckland and his sister Emily Eden in gratitude for their help in saving his third daughter from a fatal disease. The garden was then renamed to the Eden Gardens.
The cricket grounds were built between Babughat and Fort William.
The first Test match at the venue was held in 1934 between England and India,
The stadium also hosted matches of the inaugural edition of Nehru Cup in 1982.
title=Neharu Cup victory moment to cherish for Indian football fans.
1980 Stampede
16 people were killed in a stampede and riot inside Eden Gardens during a
Kolkata Derby Calcutta Football League (CFL) match on 16 August 1980.
Stadium
The stadium is the headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal.
Apart from international matches, the stadium hosts the Bengal cricket team and the Kolkata Knight Riders, an Indian Premier League franchise. The stadium's Club House is named after former Chief Minister of West Bengal Dr. B. C. Roy.
1987 renovation
The stadium's capacity was expanded to 100,000 from 40,000 for the 1987 World Cup.
The expansion also included renovations to the press area. 42 columns were added to provide the support for large roofs and multi-tiered covered stands. Even after the renovation, not all seats were covered, and many sections lacked individual seats.
However, match day attendance of more than 100,000 spectators
2011 renovation
Eden Gardens underwent renovation for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
[ Kolkata's Eden Gardens stadium gets a new look for Cricket World Cup 2011 . World Interior Design Network. Retrieved on 10 June 2010] Renovation had been undertaken to meet the standards set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the 2011 World Cup. The Cricket Association of Bengal hired a consortium of Philadelphia-based Burt Hill Architects(now INI Design Studio) and Ahmedabad-based VMS architecture firms for a two-year project to renovate the stadium. The plans for the renovated stadium included a new clubhouse and players' facilities, upgrades of the exterior walls to give the stadium a new look, cladding the existing roof structure with a new metal skin, new/upgraded patron amenities & signage and general infrastructure improvements. The upgrade also meant reduction of the seating capacity to about 68,000 from around 94,000 before the upgrade.
[ Kolkata's Eden Gardens stadium gets a new look for Cricket World Cup 2011 . World Interior Design Network. Retrieved on 16 November 2022]
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,
The stadium hosted the remaining three scheduled World Cup 2011 Matches on 15, 18 and 20 March 2011. In the last of these three matches (Kenya vs Zimbabwe), the stadium had the lowest ticket-purchasing crowd in its recorded history with 15 spectators having bought tickets.
Stands
Eden Gardens stands have been named after prominent local cricketers and soldiers.
On 22 January 2017, two stands were named after Indian cricketers -
Sourav Ganguly and
Pankaj Roy while two more were named after cricket administrators - BN Dutt (BCCI President 1988 to 1990) and
Jagmohan Dalmiya (BCCI President 2001–04, 2013 - interim, 2015).
Dalmiya served as ICC President from 1997 to 2000.
On 27 April 2017, 4 stands were named after Indian soldiers
In 2024, a stand was decided to be dedicated to star Indian pacer and the highest ODI wicket taker among women, Jhulan Goswami. It was unveiled on 22 January 2025.
Experience
Eden Gardens is renowned for its large and passionate crowds.
Former Aussie captain
Steve Waugh considers the Eden Gardens as 'Lord's of the subcontinent'.
Former Indian Captain and Kolkata-native
Sourav Ganguly confessed once in an interview that the roar of crowd at the stadium he heard when India defeated Australia in the Second Test of 2000–01 Border–Gavaskar Trophy was the loudest he had ever heard.
In 2016, a bell was added to the stadium to ring in the start of day's play for test cricket and start of match for ODI & T20I matches. Kapil Dev was the first person to ring the bell to start the test match between India and New Zealand in September 2016.
File:Eden Gardens View.jpg|Eden Gardens Aerial view
File:Eden Gardens front.jpg|Eden Gardens front facade
File:Eden Gardens during IPL 2017.jpg|Massive crowd during KKR Vs RCB 2017 IPL match.
File:Eden Gardens, Kolkata (05).jpg|The ground during a Test match
File:Eden Gardens.jpg|The ground before Cricket World Cup 2011 renovation.
File:Eden Gardens after renovations.jpg|Eden Gardens after renovations.
File:Tata IPL EDEN 47th Match KKR vs SRH 02.png|Night view of Eden Gardens
Recent tournament results
Cricket World Cup
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| 1987 Cricket World Cup | 23 October 1987 | | | Group Stage | won by 4 wickets |
| 8 November 1987 | | | Final | won by 7 runs |
| 1996 Cricket World Cup | 13 March 1996 | | | Semi-final | won by default |
| 2011 Cricket World Cup | 15 March 2011 | | | Group Stage | won by 131 runs |
| 18 March 2011 | | | Group Stage | won by 6 wickets |
| 20 March 2011 | | | Group Stage | won by 161 runs |
| 2023 Cricket World Cup | 28 October 2023 | | | Group Stage | won by 87 runs |
| 31 October 2023 | | | Group Stage | won by 7 wickets |
| 5 November 2023 | | | Group Stage | won by 243 runs |
| 11 November 2023 | | | Group Stage | won by 93 runs |
| 16 November 2023 | | | Semi-Final | won by 3 wickets |
ICC Men's T20 World Cup
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| 2016 ICC World Twenty20 | 17 March 2016 | | | Super 10 | won by 6 wickets |
| 16 March 2016 | | | Super 10 | won by 55 runs |
| 19 March 2016 | | | Super 10 | won by 6 wickets |
| 26 March 2016 | | | Super 10 | won by 75 runs |
| 3 April 2016 | | | Final | won by 4 wickets |
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Asia Cup
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| 1990–91 Asia Cup | 31 December 1990 | | | Group Stage | won by 71 runs |
| 4 January 1991 | | | Final | won by 7 wickets |
Cricket World Cup matches
Eden Gardens has hosted 15
Cricket World Cup matches hosted in India across formats and men's and women's cricket. Eden Gardens has hosted 11 Cricket World Cup matches in 1987 (2), 1996 (1), 2011 (3) and 2023 (5, including a semi-final). The stadium hosted 5 T20I matches during 2016 ICC World Twenty20. The stadium hosted 2 Women's Cricket World Cup matches - one each in 1978 and 1997 and one Women T20I match during the 2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament.
Eden Gardens has hosted 4 finals (1987 ODI CWC, 2016 T20I, 1997 Women's CWC and 2016 Women's T20I) and 2 semi-finals (1996 ODI CWC, 2023 ODI CWC).
1987 ICC Cricket World Cup
Finals
1996 ICC Cricket World Cup
2011 ICC Cricket World Cup
Eden Gardens was meant to host a Group B Match between India and England on 27 February 2011. The ICC, however, stripped the stadium of the match after deciding that the renovation of the grounds would not be completed in time.
2023 ICC Cricket World Cup
Semi-Final
2016 ICC World Twenty20
1978 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup
1997 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup
2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20
First day/night test
Notable events
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In 1946, an in-form Syed 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.
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Rioting occurred at the ground during the 1966/67 West Indies and 1969/70 Australian tours.
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In 1977, New York Cosmos played a Football match against Mohun Bagan at the stadium. Pelé played in that match for the Cosmos. The match was drawn at 2–2.
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16 football fans died in a stampede after a derby league game between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan on 16 August 1980.
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Hosted Nehru Cup in 1984, where India national football team played against Argentina, Poland, China PR, Romania U-21 and Vasas Budapest.
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Eden Gardens hosted the 1987 Cricket World Cup Final which was first ever Cricket World Cup final hosted outside England. The match ended with Australia defeating England by 7 runs. This was the first time Australia won the Cricket World Cup Final.
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The 1996 World Cup semi-final was called off and Sri Lanka awarded the match after crowd disturbances following an Indian batting collapse.
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During the second 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.
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In 1999, leading Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar was run out after colliding with Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar. Akhtar had impeded Tendulkar and the crowd rioted, forcing the police to evict the spectators. The match continued in front of an empty stadium.
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Kapil Dev took an ODI hat-trick against the Sri Lankans in 1991 at the ground.
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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.
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In 2000/01, V.V.S. Laxman scored 281 against Australia in the Second Test, 2000–01 Border–Gavaskar Trophy. This remains the highest score at the ground. He was involved in a memorable 376 runs partnership with Rahul Dravid who scored 180. They batted through the whole day 4 of the test match without losing their wickets. Australia were defeated despite enforcing the follow-on. It was only the third time in Test history that a team had won after being forced to follow on.
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In 2005, in an ODI against South Africa, the Eden Gardens crowd booed the Indian team and Greg Chappell because of Sourav Ganguly's dropping from the team. Chappell was alleged to have made an obscene gesture towards the crowd from the team bus prior to the match.
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In 2005, Sachin Tendulkar scored his 10,000th run in Test Cricket against Pakistan on this ground making him the second Indian batsman and fifth overall to achieve this feat.
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Eden Gardens hosted the historic 199th (penultimate) Test match of Sachin Tendulkar's career against West Indies from 6-10 Nov 2013. India defeated West Indies by an innings and 51 runs in 3 days.
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On its 150th anniversary, on 13 November 2014, Eden Gardens witnessed the highest ever score by a batsman in One Day Internationals, a 264 off 173 balls scored by Rohit Sharma during the fourth One Day International of Sri Lanka vs India at the venue.
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On 3 April 2016, in this venue, within a span of hours, the finals of the ICC world cup Twenty20 tournaments for the women and for the men were won by the respective women's and men's teams of the West Indies.
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The stadium hosted the 200th and 250th home tests for India in 2005 and 2016 respectively.
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On 22 January 2017, Ravindra Jadeja became the first Indian left arm spinner to take 150 One Day International wickets, when he dismissed Sam Billings.
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On 21 September 2017, Kuldeep Yadav became the third bowler for India to take a hat-trick in an ODI after Chetan Sharma and Kapil Dev. When he took a hat-trick against Australia.
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On 22 November 2019, India's first ever day/night test match between India and Bangladesh was hosted at Eden Gardens and the game was inaugurated jointly by the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina.
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On 5 November 2023, during the Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 group stage match between India and South Africa, Virat Kohli scored his 49th ODI century equalling Sachin Tendulkar's record for the most number of centuries scored by an individual in ODI cricket.
Stats and records
Matches hosted
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Records
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The most runs in Test Matches played here are scored by V.V.S. Laxman (1217 runs),
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The most runs in ODIs scored here by a batsman is by Sachin Tendulkar (496 runs), followed by Virat Kohli (431 runs) and Mohammed Azharuddin (332 runs). The most wickets taken here is by Anil Kumble, Ravindra Jadeja and Kapil Dev (14 wickets each).
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VVS Laxman and Mohammed Azharuddin have scored 5 centuries each at this venue.
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The highest ever ODI individual score of 264 is made by Rohit Sharma on this ground against Sri Lanka in 2014.
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On 21 September 2017, Kuldeep Yadav became the third bowler for India to take a hat-trick in an ODI after Chetan Sharma and Kapil Dev. When he took a hat trick against Australia.
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The highest runs ever scored in IPL at Eden Gardens
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The lowest total in the history of IPL - RCB (49/10)
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Rajat Patidar hit the highest ever individual score in an IPL match at Eden Gardens with 112 (54 balls) during RCB v LSG in 2022
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Sunil Narine's 5/19 is the best bowling figures in the IPL at Eden Gardens.
See also
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List of international cricket centuries at Eden Gardens
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List of international cricket five-wicket hauls at Eden Gardens
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List of international cricket grounds in India
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List of cricket grounds by capacity
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List of stadiums in India
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Lists of stadiums
Further reading
External links
