As Eden Gardens gears up for India’s first-ever Day-Night Test match. Here is a look at some of the memorable moments at Eden Gardens.
Kolkata’s Eden Gardens is the most iconic cricket ground in the world. It is the oldest cricket ground in India and also known as the “Mecca of Indian cricket”. Eden Gardens has hosted the most international matches in India. This ground has hosted 41 Test, 30 ODI and 7 T20I matches.
The first Test match at Eden Gardens was played in 1934. Over the years, we saw some great moments at Eden Gardens and also some unlikeable moments. Till 2011, the stadium was at a second position in terms of capacity but after the renovation in 2011, it’s sitting capacity got reduced.
#EdenGardens Spicing up for Pink Ball Test.#CAB pic.twitter.com/x2iGYoyLAc
— CABCricket (@CabCricket) November 17, 2019
The stadium is again on a line to create a new history as India’s first-ever Day-Night Test match is on this ground. The 2nd Test match of India and Bangladesh series is Day-Night on November 22 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Let’s have a look at some historic moments and some unforgettable controversies at Eden Gardens.
10 Historic moments at Eden Gardens
#1. 1987 World Cup final
The final of 1987 World Cup was hosted at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Before the final, everyone was expecting a match between India and Pakistan but both teams failed to qualify for the finals. The final of 1987 World Cup was played between England and Australia. The total 95,000 crowds had watched this match in the stadium which is still the highest-ever attendance any Cricket World Cup final.
#2. Kapil Dev’s Hat-trick
In 1991, the former Indian captain Kapil Dev took his first and only hat-trick in ODI cricket. He took a hat-trick in the final of Asia Cup against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Initially, his hat-trick was unnoticed by the crowd.
#3. 1993 Hero Cup
In 1993, the CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal) was celebrating stadium’s diamond jubilee. India has played both final and semi-final of the Hero Cup at Eden Gardens. In the semi-final match, India beat South Africa in the last over of the match when Sachin Tendulkar defended 6 runs. In the final match, India beat West Indies with the help of Anil Kumble magical spell. Anil Kumble has taken 6 wickets and gave only 12 runs in the final match.
#4. India vs Australia Test match
Almost every Indian cricket fan is aware of this moment as this Test match changed the face of Indian cricket. In 2001, the 2nd Test match of the Border-Gavaskar trophy was at Eden Garden, Kolkata. Australia batted first in this match and posted 445 runs on the board. Harbhajan took a hat-trick in the first innings. Australia bowled out India under 200 in the first innings and gave a follow-on.
At the end of Day-3, India had lost 4 wickets and Australia was leading by 20 runs. On Day-4, India did not lose a single wicket as VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid scored big centuries. On day-5, Harbhajan and Sachin destroyed the Australian batting lineup with their bowling. India won the match and this match became the best-ever Test match in the history of cricket.
#5. Rohit Sharma’s 264
In 2014, Rohit Sharma had scored the highest individual score in ODI is at Eden Garden, Kolkata. In this match, Rohit scored 264 runs against Sri Lanka with the help of 33 fours and 9 sixes. This is the highest-ever ODI score by any batsmen in the world in ODI cricket.
#6. Sachin Tendulkar’s Penultimate Test
The ‘God of Cricket’ Sachin Tendulkar had played his second last International match against West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. This was Rohit Sharma’s debut Test match and he scored a century in this match.
#7. Dravid and Tendulkar bowled out by Shoaib Akhtar
In the hot atmosphere of Kolkata, Shoaib Akhtar who is also known as the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ had bowled out Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in two consecutive balls. This incident took place in the 1999 Asian Test Championship.
#8. 1996 World Cup semi-final
In 1996 World Cup semi-final, India was chasing the target of 252 runs in 50 overs against Sri Lanka. India started well as Sachin Tendulkar was looking good. In the 23rd over, Tendulkar got stumped out. At that time, India was on 98/2. After Tendulkar’s wicket, the Indian batting lineup collapsed. In the 35th over, India was at 120/8.
All the fans at Eden Gardens failed to control their emotions and showed their anger on the Indian team. In the 35th over, fans start throwing bottles and some other objects and also burned stands. The match officials abounded the match and declared Sri Lanka the winner of the semi-final. After this incident, Vinod Kambli went into the dressing room in the tears.
#9. Four batsmen scored a century in the single innings of the Test match
In 2010, the 2nd Test match of India and South Africa series was played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. South Africa batted first but bowled out on just 296 runs. India had declared their first innings on 643 runs. Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni had scored a century for India in that innings. India had won this Test match by an innings and 57 runs.
#10. Sachin Tendulkar’s controversial runout
In 1999, the final Test of the Asian Test Championship between India and Pakistan was played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. In the 2nd innings, when Tendulkar was at 7 runs he played a shot towards deep mid-wicket. He took two runs comfortably but went for the third run because of the overthrow.
While taking the third run, Sachin collided with Shoaib Akhtar who was trying to collect the ball. In the end, the umpire gave Tendulkar run-out. The excited crowd of Eden did not like this and starts throwing bottles and other objects on Shoab Akhtar. The crowd had also chants ‘cheater cheater’ to Shoaib Akhtar.
