Stadiums In India

Tamil Nadu Ma Chidambaram Stadium

The M.A Chidambaram Stadium, formerly known as Madras Cricket Club Ground or Chepauk Stadium located in Chepauk in Chennai (formerly Madras), India is named after M.A Chidambaram who was the erstwhile President of BCCI and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. It was constructed by East Coast Constructions and Industries, soon after which it’s very first match was played on 10 February, 1934. It is a home ground for Tamil Nadu Cricket Team and also Chennai Super Kings which participated and won in Indian Premier League twice. The Indian Cricket Team won it’s first ever Test Match against England in 1952 on this ground. The Chepauk crowd is known amongst the most appreciative crowds. The fact is supported by the incidence when Chepauk crowd gave a standing ovation when Saeed Anwar scored 194 against India in the Independence Cup match in 1997 and also when Pakistan won the test match in 1999. A truly over-whelmed Pakistani Cricket Team made a lap of honour in appreciation of the spectators supporting behaviour.

The stadium was named after the former BCCI chief and it is having good capacity for the people. Most of the matches were played on this ground and all were successfully organised.

History

Named after the former BCCI Chief, M.A Chidambaram Stadium hosted it’s first test match on 10th February, 1934. It is the stadium where India taped its first test match victory against England in 1962 followed by Sunil Gawaskar’s record breaking 30th Test-Hundred in 1983-84 against West Indies.

As compared to other the pitches of other fields in the country, the pitch is flat and bouncy. The stadium can take in as many as 50,000 spectators.

It is very easy for a person to reach the stadium. He can have the transport options available so that he can reach to the stadium to cheer his team over there.  Private vehicles are also available for a person.

How To Reach

Chennai Railway Station is located very close to M.A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai International Airport though is also not far from it! Buses, auto-rickshaws and private cabs are always available from station as well as from the airport up-till the stadium.

There were various matches played on this ground and people enjoyed them too. Most of the international and national matches held over here along with the matches of Indian Premier League.

Noted Events At M.A Chidambaram Stadium

• The first ever Ranji Trophy match was played here, in which AG Ram Singh took 11 wickets on a sticky to bowl Madras to a win over Mysore within a day.
• India recorded its first test win over here by defeating England by an inning and 8 runs in 1951-1952.
• The second tied test match in cricket’s history was also played here between India and Australia in 1986.
• Virendra Sehwag scored 319 against South Africa which is the highest test score at this ground.
• Saeed Anwar’s 194 against India are the highest score at this ground. This was the highest score in the ODI until Sachin Tendulkar cited 200 against South Africa.
• England held the record of highest score on the ground with 652-7 against India in test match, which became the fourth highest score in the cricket’s test match’s history.
• Narendra Hirwani’s match bowling figures of 16/136 currently are the best at the ground.
• Rahul Dravid scored his 10,000th test run on this ground.
• India’s 387/4 in the fourth inning of the first test match against England in December 2008, became the highest successful runs chased by India.
• Sunil Gawaskar (1018 runs) has scored the most number of runs in the stadium followed by Sachin Tendulkar(876 runs) and then by Gundappa Vishwanath(785 runs).
• Anil Kumble (48 wickets) has taken most number of wickets in this stadium followed by Kapil Dev (40 wickets) and then Harbhajan Singh (39 wickets).
• Sachin Tendulkar has scored more runs in Chepauk as compared to any other venue in India which is 876 in 9 test matches.
• On 15th October, 2004, Shane Warne surpassed Muttiah Murliharan’s tally of 532 test wickets when he took the wicket of Irfan Pathan. It was his 533rd test wicket in 114th test.
• Mohammad Rafique(14 wickets) has taken most number of wickets  followed by Ajit Agarkar (7 wickets)and Morne Morquel.(7 wickets).
• Pakistan won a test match against India in 1999.

The World Cup Matches Hosted By This Stadium Are

• Australia won by 1 run in India Vs Australia 1987 World Cup.
• Australia won by 96 runs in Australia Vs Zimbabwe 1987 world cup.
• Australia won by 6 wickets in Australia Vs New Zealand 1996 world cup.
• New Zealand won by 10 wickets in New Zealand Vs Kenya in 2011 World Cup.
• England won by 6 runs in England Vs South Africa in 2011 world cup.
• England won by 18 runs in England Vs West Indies in 2011 world cup.
• India won by 80 runs in India Vs West Indies in 2011 world cup.

The stadium took some renovation process through which the condition of the stadium is changed and it is provided a modern look so that people can have a good view of the matches that held here.

Renovation

On June 28th 2009, the renovation work was started to increase the spectator capacity from 36,000 to 45,000, the cost of which was Rs. 175 crores. The project comprises of three reinforced concrete stands accommodating 10, 000 spectators each and 24 hospitality boxes under translucent PTFE membrane roofs.
Natraj and Venkats Architects in Chennai and Hopkins Architects in London were given contracts by Tamil Nadu Cricket Association to upgrade the stadium before the 2011 ICC World Cup and bring the swing back for which the stadium is notable.

The stadium covering the area of 40,000 m2 and facilitating accommodation for 50,000 spectators having horizontal gaps between the lower terrace and upper stands allows sea breeze into the stadium from the east, costing INR 1920 Million.

The stadium sports nine new stands consisting of three tiers. The middle one is fully air conditioned, being the hospitality box. The media box can seat 200 press persons and media conference hall can accommodate 300 persons. The renovation lets the sea breeze get in to get ground’s traditional swing back while adhering to the principles of Vaastu in design.

Famous Centuries At M.A Chidambaram Stadium

The first test century was scored by Englishman Cyril Walters with 102 runs against India in 1934. Indian Batsmen Virendra Sehwag holds the record for highest score of 319 runs against South Africa in 2008. The record for the highest score belongs to an overseas player Dean Jones who made 210 in 1986. Sachin Tendulkar is the only player who has scored 5 test centuries at the ground. A Sri Lankan player Dullep Mendis and an Englishman Andrew Strauss made 2 centuries each against India in 1982 and 2008 respectively.

Most of the fabulous players played some magnificent innings on this ground and registered centuries. This list of these players is long and it includes the national players and international players.

Out of 7 ODI Centuries first have been made by Australian Geoff Marsh (110 in 1987), second by Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar(194 runs in 146 balls in 1997), third by  Viv Richards(189 runs), fourth by Zimbabwean Charles Coventry, then by Sachin Tendulkar  and M.S Dhoni.

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