Arun Jaitley Stadium

Arun Jaitley Stadium is a cricket stadium located at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi. Established in 1883 as the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, being near the Kotla fort, it is the second oldest international cricket stadium still functional in India, after the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. As a matter of felicitation, the DDCA named four stands of the stadium after former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi, former India all-rounder Mohinder Amarnath, former India opener and Delhi Ranji player Gautam Gambhir and current captain Virat Kohli. It was also decided to name the home team's dressing room after Raman Lamba and the opposition's dressing room after Prakash Bhandari.
As of 2016, the India national cricket team has been undefeated for over 28 years in Test matches and for over 10 years in ODI matches at this ground.
Formerly Sunil Gavaskar hit his 29th test ton in this ground to equal Don Bradman's then record tally of 29 centuries. The ground is also known for Anil Kumble's 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan and Sachin Tendulkar's 35th test ton to overcome Gavaskar to become the batsman with the most international Test centuries. As of 25 October 2019 it has hosted 34 Tests, 25 ODIs and 6 T20I.
On 12 September 2019, the stadium was renamed in memory of former Finance Minister and former DDCA President Arun Jaitley. The decision to name the stadium after the politician, who was once the president of DDCA and also the vice-president of the BCCI came after he died on 24 August 2019. Speaking on the name change, current DDCA president Rajat Sharma said: "It was Arun Jaitley's support and encouragement that players like Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Rishabh Pant and many others could make India proud." The name change has been criticised by former Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi.
After announcing the name change, DDCA put out a clarification stating the stadium is only being renamed but the ground will be still called "Feroz Shah Kotla Ground".
History.
The first Test match at this venue was played on 10 November 1948 when India took on the West Indies. It is owned and operated by the DDCA (Delhi District Cricket Association).
Record.
In 1952, playing against Pakistan, Hemu Adhikari and Ghulam Ahmed were involved in a record tenth wicket stand of 111 runs – a record that still stands. In 1965, S Venkataraghavan, in his debut series, demolished the New Zealand line up with figures of 8 for 72 and 4 for 80. In 1969–70, Bishen Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna combined to spin India to a famous seven wicket win over Australia, the duo picking 18 wickets between themselves.
In 1981, Geoff Boycott surpassed Gary Sobers' world record test aggregate.
Special achievements.
In 1983–84, Sunil Gavaskar scored his 29th century to equal Don Bradman's long standing record for the highest number of hundreds in Test cricket. In 1999–2000, in a match against Pakistan, Anil Kumble took 10 for 74 in fourth inning of a Test Match and became the second person to take 10 wickets in an innings after Jim Laker. In 2005–06, at the same ground, Sachin Tendulkar broke Gavaskar's record of most centuries with his 35th Test century.
Banned issues.
On 27 December 2009, an ODI match between India and Sri Lanka was called off because pitch conditions were classed as unfit to host a match. Based on match referee's report of the match, the ground was banned by ICC for 12 months and returned as one of the venues for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
Indian Premier League.
Since 2008 the stadium has been the home venue of the Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) of the Indian Premier League.
Smog Incident.
During the second day of third test of Sri Lankan cricket team in India in 2017-18 at Delhi, smog forced Sri Lanka cricketers to stop play and wear anti-pollution masks, a rare sight in terms of play interruptions. Cricketer Lahiru Gamage reported to have shortness of breath. Nic Pothas, coach of Sri Lankan cricket team, reported that cricketer Suranga Lakmal had vomited regularly due to severe pollution effect on the Delhi ground. There was a haltage of play between 12:32pm to 12:49pm, which caused Indian coach Ravi Shastri to come out to consult with the on-field umpires. BCCI president C. K. Khanna accused the Sri Lankan team of making fuss while Indian spectators called the team "melodramatic". On day 4, India's Mohammed Shami was also seen vomiting on the field.
Following the match, both participating countries criticised the choice to play the Test in Delhi with the high levels of pollution. The Sri Lanka manager Asanka Gurusinha said that both teams were using oxygen cylinders in their dressing rooms due to breathing difficulties, and suggested the use of air-quality meters in future fixtures. President of the Indian Medical Association, KK Agarwal, said that playing in such conditions could result in lung and heart disease, and recommended the inclusion of atmospheric pollution as a factor in the assessment criteria for a match.
Renaming.
The DDCA announced on 27 August 2019 that the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground would be renamed as Arun Jaitely Stadium, in honour of the late Union Minister and former Delhi District Cricket Association President Arun Jaitley, Interestingly the ground would retain the name of Feroze Shah Kotla Ground. Arun Jaitley was credited with turning the stadium into a modern facility, increasing its seating capacity and building better facilities for players during his tenure as DDCA President. The stadium was officially renamed at a function that took place on 12 September 2019. One of the stands of the stadium was named after Indian captain Virat Kohli on the same date.
Statistics.
Indian cricket team have won 10 test matches here till date out of 18 test matches.(Matches which have loss or win)
Various format records.
Test record.
The highest test score on this ground is by West Indies, when scored 644–8 in 1959 and 631 all out in 1948. The next highest score was made by India scoring 613–7 in 2008. The most runs scored here is by Dilip Vengsarkar (673 runs), followed by Sunil Gavaskar (668 runs) and Sachin Tendulkar (643 runs). The most wickets taken here is by Anil Kumble (58 wickets), followed by Kapil Dev (32 wickets) and R Ashwin (27 wickets).
ODI record.
ODI Cricket World Cup.
This stadium has hosted One Day International (ODI) matches when India hosted the Cricket World Cup in 1987, 1996 and 2011.
Twenty20 Internationals.
2016 ICC World Twenty20.
The ground was selected to host matches in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20. Three matches from Group A were scheduled to be played here as well as one semi-final. The first ever Twenty20 International held at the ground was a Group A match between England and Afghanistan.
Indian Cricket Team Matches.
The ground hosted a T20I match on 1 November 2017 between India and New Zealand which was the first ever Indian International Twenty-20 at this ground and also the last international match for Ashish Nehra. On the eve of his farewell game, Delhi & District Cricket Association renamed one end of the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground as "Ashish Nehra End" and thus Nehra became the second bowler in cricket history, after James Anderson (cricketer), to have bowled from an end named after him.
The first match of the Bangladesh tour of India 2019–20, the T20I in Delhi, was the 1,000th men's Twenty20 International match was played on 3 November 2019. Bangladesh won the match by seven wickets, to record their first ever victory against India in the format.
Accessibility.
Road: Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
Delhi Metro: Delhi Gate metro station.
Air: Indira Gandhi International Airport.