Eden Gardens Stadium, Kolkata

Melbourne, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows are the four venues of the tennis Grand Slam events. Many an aspiring tennis player seeks fame at these hallowed venues. Similarly, the hallowed venue for an aspiring cricketer is the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata, India. To play at this venue with distant boundaries and in front of a screaming crowd is every cricketer's dream come true. Established in 1864, it is the second largest stadium in the world, behind the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Its most famous match was when V.V.S.Laxman and Rahul Dravid made an incredible partnership to snatch victory against the Australians and prevent the team from Down Under getting their 17th consecutive Test win.

Location: The Eden Garden Stadium is located in Dalhousie, just behind the Akashwani Bhawan and adjacent to the State Secretariat and the High Court.

Facilities: The Eden Garden stadium initially had a seating capacity for over 1 lakh spectators. This was later reduced to 90,000. When floodlights were installed, it was amongst one of the few in India to have this facility. It was also one of the first to organize day-night matches with scores glowing on a huge electronic scoreboard. The stadium has its own Club House titled the B.C. Roy Club House; it has been named after former Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal Dr. B. C. Roy. The two ends of the pitch are the High Court end and the Pavilion end.

Importance: The Eden Garden stadium is the Headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengall. Its most famous tenants are the Bengal Cricket Team; Kolkata Knight Riders.

Trivia:
* The stadium hosted its first test match in January 1934, when India lost to England.
* The first ODI played at this stadium was the match between India and Pakistan in 1987.
* Harbhajan Singh became the first Indian to take a hat-trick Test cricket at this very ground, when he bagged three wickets against the visiting Australian team in 2000/01.
* On two occasions spectators sparked off riots in the stands – first against the West Indies (1966-67) and then against Australia (1969-70).
* The stadium has the ignoble reputation of having a World Cup match being called off, when Sri Lanka was on the winning track against India in 1996.

Contact Information:
Cricket Association of Bengal
Dr. B. C. Roy Club House,
Eden Gardens,
Kolkata - 700021
Phone Nos.: 033-2248 3403, 033 - 2248 1144 / 2248 6000