VCA Stadium

The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium , also known as New VCA Stadium, is a cricket ground in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. It is the largest cricket stadium in India in terms of field area.

The ground, located at Jamtha on the southern outskirts of Nagpur, was inaugurated in 2008, replacing the old Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground as the city’s main stadium. The qualities of the stadium have been praised by the International Cricket Council.

VCA Stadium is the home ground for the Vidarbha and Central Zone teams for the domestic Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy tournaments, respectively. As of January 2020 it has hosted most T20I matches (12) the most by any stadium in India. As of 10 November 2019 it has hosted 6 Tests, 9 ODIs and 12 T20Is.

Overview

Sachin Tendulkar said “the facilities exceeded all expectations” and Ricky Ponting commented on the comfort in the changing rooms. Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne was extremely pleased with the “largeness of the ground” after his team’s two-run win over Deccan Chargers. “Michael Lumb’s slog to deep mid-wicket found a fielder. Now, if this was M. A. Chidambaram Stadium or M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, then that ball would have landed in a taxi going to the team hotel. We need big grounds like these,” Warne said. It has 80-yard straight boundaries and 85-yard square boundaries, which makes it one of the largest grounds (in terms of playing area) in the world.

Lalit Modi said the VCA was “by far the best stadium in India”. The stadium has been praised not only by the players but also by commentators and journalists because of the facilities. Alan Wilkins said, “It is a fabulous stadium, a Colosseum here in Nagpur. It has the most impressive Press box for the travelling media. It really is a wonderful venue.”

The first international match at this venue was the Fourth Test between India and Australia in November 2008, which India won by 172 runs. The Australian spinner Jason Krejza finished with 12 wickets, while Harbhajan Singh claimed seven for India.

Four matches were played at the stadium during the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The highest Test scores are by India: 566/8, 558/6 and 441. The leading run scorers in Tests are Virendar Sehwag (357), Virat Kohli (354) and MS Dhoni (339). The leading wicket takers in a Test are R Ashwin (23 wickets), Ishant Sharma (19) and Harbhajan Singh (13 wickets). The highest ODI scores are by India 354/7, India 351/4, Australia 350/6, New Zealand 302/7 and Sri Lanka 302/7. The leading scorers in ODIs are Virat Kohli (325), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (268) and Rohit Sharma (204). The leading wicket takers in ODIs are Mitchell Johnson (9 wickets), Ravindra Jadeja (6 wickets) and Dale Steyn (5) and Harbhajan Singh (5).