The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium is the Best Venue in India

The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium can be located in Nagpur. It has a capacity of around 45,000 and was built back in 2008, making it one of the youngest cricket stadiums in the country. The Vidarbha cricket team play their home matches here and as of September 2021, it has hosted 6 test matches, 9 ODIs, and 12 T20s. Please keep reading to find out more.

The History of the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium

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The main stadium in Nagpur used to be the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, which was built back in 1929. However, the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) wanted a new and improved stadium, so they asked for permission to build a new one. The permission was granted, and the fantastic Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium was opened in 2008. It was built with world-class practice and training facilities and is considered to be the best cricket stadium in the country by a mile. The straight boundaries are 80 yards and the square boundaries are 85 yards, making this one of the largest cricket playing fields in the world.

There are four stands that make up this stadium. The North stand has three tiers and is where the President’s Room, the Secretary’s Box, the Commercial Box, the Security Control, and the Board Rooms are. The West and East stands are open-aired and have two tiers. The South stand is made up of three tiers and is where the pavilion, gym, and media room can be found. There is roofing on all the stands to ensure that spectators can watch the cricket in comfort. Day and night matches are often played here, so they made sure to equip the stadium with top quality floodlights. It is safe to say that you will not find better lights anywhere in the country. Each one of these floodlights would have cost a pretty penny, but when you see the final result during a day/night match, you will realise that every penny that was spent was spent well.

The VCA know how important the players are, so they provided them with a stunning pavilion, a small gym, a great lunch hall, and a medical room where they can get all the treatment that they need. The members of the stadium can gain access to an air-conditioned box, which is great when matches are being played in the middle of summer. The match officials are given their own facilities and can relax in comfort when there is a break in play.

The VCA know that it is very important that the paying spectators are happy, so they have access to food stalls, a cafeteria, water fountains, and toilers. It is also very easy for the spectators to enter and leave the ground. There is nothing more annoying to spectators than having to queue up for ages to get in or out of a stadium.

The first international cricket match that was played at this stadium was a test match against Australia. India batted first and notched up 441 runs thanks to a century from Sachin Tendulkar (109). In reply, Australia were bowled up for 355, despite a classy century from Simon Katich. In their second innings, India were bowled out for 295 runs, meaning Australia needed 381 runs to win the game. However, they could only manage 209, which meant that India won the game by 172 runs. Australia’s Jason Krejza, despite being on the losing side, was the player of the match as he picked up 12 wickets.

"This fantastic stadium also hosted four ODI matches during the 2001 Cricket World Cup. The 2023 Cricket World Cup is going to be played in India, and this stadium will definitely be given a number of games."

What Great Games Have Spectators Seen at This Stadium?

  • India V New Zealand in 2010: The Kiwis batted first in this match and were bowled out for a mere 193 thanks to Ishant Sharma’s 4 wickets and Pragyan Ojha’s 3 In reply, India put the New Zealand bowlers to the slaughter and scored a massive 566/8d. Rahul Dravid top scored with 191, while there were valuable contributions from Mahendra Singh Dhoni (98), Virender Sehwag (74) and Gautam Gambhir (78). This meant that the visitors needed 373 runs just to make India bat again. They got nowhere close as they were bowled out for 175 runs. Sharma was the pick of the bowlers again in the second innings as he picked up 3 wickets for just 15 runs. India won the game by an innings and 198 runs.
  • India V Australia in 2009: This was a day/night game that was played on the 28th October. India batted first and scored a very intimidating 354 runs from their 50 Mahendra Singh Dhoni top scored with 124, while Gautam Gambhir (76) and Suresh Raina (62) also made valuable contributions. The pressure was too much for Australia and they were bowled out for 255, with Ravindra Jadeja being the pick of the bowlers with his 3 wickets for 35 runs. India won the match by 99 runs.
  • India V Sri Lanka in 2009: This was a day/night T20 match that took place on the 9th December. Sri Lanka batted first in this match and put up an imposing 215 runs, thanks to a 78 from Kumar Sangakkara and a 47 from Chamara Kapugedera. India gave a good fist of it in their 20 overs but kept losing wickets at regular intervals and fell 29 runs short of their target. Gautam Gambhir was the top scorer, hitting 55 runs from just 26 balls.
  • India V Australia in 2019: This was a day/night ODI match that was played on the 5th March. India batted first and were bowled out for 250 runs in 2 overs. Virat Kohli scored nearly half of those runs (116). Many thought that this wasn’t going to be anywhere close to enough runs, but India’s bowlers bowled the visitors out for 242 runs in 49.3 overs, meaning India won by a mere 8 runs.

Some Fun Statistics to Enjoy

  • Virender Sehwag has scored the most test match runs at this stadium. In the 4 matches (6 innings) that he played at this stadium, he scored 357 runs (1 century and 3 half-centuries) at an average of 50.
  • Virat Kohli holds the record for most ODI runs scored at this stadium. In the 5 matches that he has played here, he has scored 325 runs (2 centuries and 1 half-century) at an average of 25.
  • Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad has scored the most T20 runs at this ground. In the 4 matches that he has played here, he has scored 166 runs (high score of 61) at an average of 50.
  • Amit Mishra leads the way when it comes to test match ducks at this stadium. In the 3 matches (6 innings) that he has played here, he has been out for 0 on 3
  • Ravichandran Ashwin has the most test wickets at this venue. In the 3 matches (6 innings) that he has played, he has picked up 23 wickets (2 5-wicket hauls and 1 10-wicket haul) at an average of 08. His 12 wickets for 98 runs in a match are the best test bowling figures at this venue as well.
  • Australia’s Mitchell Johnson has picked up the most ODI wickets at this stadium. In the 3 matches that he played here, he picked up 9 wickets at an average of 00.
  • South Africa’s Dale Steyn has the best ODI figures at this ground. In a match against India here in 2011, he picked up 5 wickets for 50 runs from the 4 overs that he bowled.

Should You Make an Effort to Watch a Match Here?

This stadium is widely regarded as not only one of the best in India, but also one of the best in the whole cricketing world. Therefore, if a match is going to be played here when you are visiting Nagpur, we highly recommend that you purchase a ticket and go and watch the action. Many cricket stadiums around India do not allow the public to enter unless there is a match being played. However, you will be happy to hear that the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium is one of the few that do. Therefore, if you are in Nagpur when a match is not being played, we recommend that you still make an effort to go have a look inside this magnificent stadium. The stadium is open from 10.00 until 18.00, so you can visit at a time that best suits you. However, if you are there in the summer, we recommend that you go in the morning or in the evening to avoid the hottest time of the day.

Is it Easy to Get to the Stadium?

No matter where you happen to be staying in Nagpur, you will find it extremely easy to reach this stadium as it is served by a number of different bus and train routes. You will have to walk a few minutes to the stadium, but you should have no issue with this as it allows you to soak up all of the amazing atmosphere. You might be thinking about renting a car and driving there yourself, but we would recommend this option as you will have to try and find somewhere to park your car. If you don’t want to take public transport, you can always get a taxi for a reasonable price. Once you have seen a match at this stadium, here are some other things that you must see while in Nagpur: the Japanese Rose Garden, the Balaji Temple, Ambazari Lake, Sai Baba Temple, Adasa Ganpati Temple, Raman Science Centre, and the Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary. There are many great hotels in Nagpur, so you will not have any difficulties when it comes down to finding a place to stay during your visit. Whether you are looking for a 5-star hotel where you can be pampered after a day out in the city or a 3-star hotel where you are guaranteed a good night’s rest, you will definitely find what you are looking for.