Eden Gardens is a name that is known to all cricket fans around the world and for cricket fans in India it is the stadium that the Indian cricket fans are most proud of as it is on par with the likes of Lord’s or the MCG in Melbourne simply because of all the history and all the greatness that this ground has seen over the past 159 years that it has been around. Eden Gardens has been around since 1854 and without a doubt it is the oldest cricket stadium in the country and one of the oldest in the world and it is the Mecca of Indian cricket.
Eden Gardens has seen some of the most iconic cricket Matches in cricket history and the fact that it has such a long history makes every player. The beauty of this ground is magnificent and Kolkata has gotten a great name in the cricketing World because of Eden Gardens and all the people of Kolkata feel proud of this Marvel. So, let’s look at the reasons why Eden Gardens is one of the most iconic cricket stadiums in the world
The history of the stadium
It is a stadium that was established in 1864 and since then there have been many matches played here. The history of this great stadium starts from 1908 when the first tenants of this stadium were the Bengal Women’s Cricket team and then in 1934 The Indian cricket team started playing here and then from 1978 the Indian Women’s cricket team started playing at Eden Gardens. The first match was held on 5th January 1934 between India and England. And the first ODI was between 18th February 1987 between India and Pakistan and the first Women’s ODI was played on 1st January 1978 between India and England. In 1996 a record attendance of 110,564 fans attended the India vs Sri Lanka World Cup Semi Final.
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Some of the most iconic matches have been played here
Another one of the reasons why Eden Gardens is so iconic is because some of the best cricket Matches have been played at this awe inspiring stadium. The more famous ones are the 1992 Hero Cup Final vs South Africa where Sachin Tendulkar became the last over hero or the 1996 World Cup semi final where India lost to Sri Lanka. However the match that cemented Eden Gardens as one of the all time greats was the rest match between India and Australia in 2001 where India came back from behind to win the most incredible test match of all time. And some great IPL Matches have also been played here like the 2013 and 2015 IPL final or the 2022 IPL Qualifier 1 or Eliminator.
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The best players always perform here
Eden Gardens has been very kind and has hosted some of the best performances from the all time greats of the game. From Sunil Gavaskar to Imran Khan to Vivian Richards to Graham Gooch. Some of the Indian players consider this their favorite ground like Mohammad Azharuddin who scored lots of runs here or VVS Laxman who performed his best at this ground. Bowlers like Harbhajan Singh got their big break at this ground and even current legends like Rohit Sharma also Excel here every time. VVS Laxman’s 281 or Rohit Sharma’s 264 or Harbhajan Singh’s 13 wicket haul vs Australia are some of the most legendary performances.
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