Eden Gardens (Bengali) is a cricket ground in Kolkata, India. It is the home of the Bengal cricket team and the Indian Premier League's Kolkata Knight Riders, as well as being a Test and One Day International ground. It is the largest cricket stadium in India considering seating capacity.

History

Established in 1864, Eden Gardens is expected to hold 82,000 people following renovations that are expected to be completed before the start of the 2011 World Cup; a capacity down from an estimated 86,961 before the upgrade. Prior to the 1987 World Cup, the capacity was said to be approximetely 120,000; however, no official figures have been recorded. Nevertheless, it will remain second biggest cricket stadium in the world, behind the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia and Eden Gardens is also the second largest stadium in India behind the Salt Lake Stadium also situated in Kolkata. The stadium is located in the Dalhousie area of the city, near the State Secretariat and the High Court. The first recorded Test at the venue was held in 1934, and its first ODI in 1987.Sporting floodlights, bowlers deliver from the High Court End or the Pavilion End of a pitch under curator Probir Mukherjee. Eden Gardens is renowned for its large and vociferous crowds. It is said that "a cricketer's cricketing education is not complete till he has played in front of a packed Eden Gardens." The Club House of the stadium has been named as the B.C. Roy Club House, after former Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal Dr. B. C. Roy. The Headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal are also there at the Eden Gardens.

Noted events

Rioting has been seen at the ground during the 1966/67 West Indies and 1969/70 Australian tours. Hosted the memorable World Cup final of 1987 which ended with Australia defeating England by 7 runs. The 1996 World Cup semi-final was called off with Sri Lanka on the verge of victory over the home side, after the home crowd set fire to the stands after an Indian collapse. In 1999, leading Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar was run out after colliding with Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar. The crowd thought that Akhtar had impeded Tendulkar and rioted, forcing the police to evict the spectators. The match continued in front of an empty stadium. Harbhajan Singh took a hat-trick against the Australians in 2000/01 at the ground. He became the first Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Kapil Dev took an ODI hat-trick against the Sri Lankans in 1991 at the ground. He became the second Indian to take an ODI hat-trick. VVS Laxman scored 281 against the Australians in 2000/01. This remains the highest score at the ground. Australia were defeated despite holding the advantage for the majority of the game in "the greatest come-from-behind victory of modern times". It was only the third time in Test history that a team had won after being forced to follow on. Coincidentally, it was Australia which ended on the losing side on the previous two occasions as well.

Renovation

Eden Gardens is currently undergoing renovation for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Renovation has been undertaken to meet the standards set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the 2011 World Cup. The Cricket Association of Bengal retained the team of Burt Hill and VMS to renovate the Eden Garden Cricket Stadium. The renovation work includes a new clubhouse and players' facilities, upgrading the exterior wall to give the stadium a new look, cladding the existing roof structure with a new metal skin, new/upgraded patron amenities and signage, and general infrastructure improvements.

In addition to being a stadium set to host the Cricket World Cup in 2011, the structure will also meet the programmatic needs of the regular season and special events.