Interesting facts and figures about India's iconic Eden Gardens Stadium

Eden Gardens is the biggest cricket stadium in India, situated in Kolkata. It was established in 1864 and is the home ground of the Bengal cricket team and also the IPL team KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders).

Eden Gardens has hosted a number of international Test, ODI and T20I matches to date. Currently, the stadium has a capacity of 100,000 approximately.

Eden Gardens stadium facts

This stadium acquires its name from the oldest park in Kolkata, the Eden Gardens. This park was designed in 1841 and named after the Eden sisters of Lord Auckland, the then Governor-General of India.

It is situated in the B.B.D. Bagh area of the city Kolkata. It is opposite the Calcutta High Court and near the State Secretariat.

The stadium hosted its first international Test match in 1934. It hosted its first ODI match, between India and Pakistan, in 1987.

The first T20 international match at the venue was between India and England in 2011.

The first Day/Night international cricket match held here was the semi-final of the Hero Cup between India and South Africa.

The Eden Gardens Stadium is also the headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal.

Besides International cricket matches, Eden Gardens also hosts domestic matches.

The Eden Gardens stadium became the 2nd international stadium to host a World Cup final, in 1987.

It is the venue that has hosted the most (82) International cricket matches in India (Test matches - 40, ODIs - 31, T20Is - 6 - Women's ODIs - 4, Women's T20Is - 1)

The Eden Gardens stadium had a capacity of 40,000 before the 1987 World Cup, but after renovation, it increased to 94,000. However, the stadium recorded a matchday attendance of more than 100,000 on at least 6 different occasions.

The lowest attendance recorded at Eden Gardens is just 15, in the match between Kenya and Zimbabwe in the 2011 World Cup.

Stands at Eden Gardens

The stands at Eden Gardens are named after famous and honorable local soldiers and cricketers. 2 stands are named after Indian international cricketers - the Bengal tiger Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy. 2 stands are named after the cricket administrators Jagmohan Dalmiya and BN Dutt.

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh characterized the Eden Gardens stadium as the ‘Lord’s of the subcontinent’. Moreover, Dileep Vengsarkar regarded the Eden Gardens as the 2nd best stadium after Lord's in England.

Former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly once said in an interview that the loudest shouts of the crowd he heard at Eden Gardens was in the second Test of the Border–Gavaskar Trophy of 2000/01.

Some records at Eden Gardens

The first person to ring the bell was Kapil Dev. He rang it to signify the start of the Test match between India and New Zealand in September 2016.

The Eden Gardens stadium has hosted 15 Cricket World Cup matches as of World Cup 2015.

This stadium has hosted 4 international finals (ODI World Cup 1987, T20 World Cup 2016, Women’s World Cup 1997 and Women’s T20 World Cup 2016) and 1 semifinal match (ODI World Cup 1996).

Harbhajan Singh is the leading Test wicket-taker in Eden Gardens with 46 wickets.

Sachin Tendulkar has amassed the most runs (496) in ODIs at the venue followed by Mohammed Azharuddin (332 runs) and Aravinda de Silva (306 runs).