Ekana Cricket Stadium Explained

Ekana Cricket Stadium, also known as Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee (BRSABV) Ekana Cricket Stadium or Ekana Sports City,^{[4] [5]} is an international cricket stadium in Lucknow, India. The arena has a seating capacity of 50,000, and is the fifth largest international cricket stadium of India.^[6] In 2018, the stadium was renamed after India's 10th Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.^[7]

It has the longest straight boundaries in comparison to all the stadiums in India. It is the home ground of Uttar Pradesh cricket team, UP women's cricket team and IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants. In 2019, Afghanistan cricket team used it as their home ground.^[8] K. D. Singh Babu Stadium used to host international cricket matches in Lucknow before the venue was built.

The arena hosted the five matches of the 2023 Men's Cricket World Cup.^[9]

History

The project for constructing the world class stadium in Lucknow was commissioned in 2014, and the stadium was built under public-private partnership between Ekana Sportz City and Lucknow Development Authority. Ekana Sportz City is a Joint venture between Nagarjuna Construction Company, and GC Construction & Development Industries Pvt Ltd.

As per the agreement of the partnership, the government provided Ekana Sportz City with 35-year lease of 71 acres to build the cricket stadium, with the lease running through 2052. In addition, the government also provided 66 additional acres of land for real estate projects on a 99-year lease. The cricket stadium has been built with a budget of 360 crores (3.6 billion rupees).^[10]

Before its international debut, it also hosted the final of the 2017–18 Duleep Trophy.^[11] The stadium was allocated the 3rd ODI between India and New Zealand to be held on 27 Oct 2017. However, the venue was shifted to Kanpur after the stadium was declared incomplete.^[12]

On 6 November 2018, the stadium hosted its first international match, a Twenty20 International (T20I) between India and the West Indies,^[13] becoming the 52nd stadium in India to host an international cricket match.^[14] International cricket match returned to Lucknow after 24 years, after the India and Sri Lanka test match of 1994.^[15] In that match Rohit Sharma became the first cricketer to score four centuries in T20Is.^[16] India won that match by 71 runs.^[17] The last time Lucknow hosted an international match was in January 1994, when India played a test match against Sri Lanka at the K.D. Singh Babu Stadium.^[18]

In May 2019, Afghanistan Cricket Board requested the BCCI to use this venue for their international matches.^[19] In August 2019, BCCI awarded the venue to Afghanistan national cricket team as their third home venue in India, being previously played in Dehradun and Greater Noida.^[20]

It hosted all the matches during Afghanistan vs West Indies series in 2019.^[21] On 6 November 2019, the venue hosted its first ODI match.^[22] On 27 November 2019, the venue hosted its first Test match.^[23]

In May 2022, the venue was scheduled to host all the matches of the fourth edition of Women's T20 Challenge. However, later the matches were shifted to Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.^[24]

Events

The venue has hosted two major events organized by the UP government.

Award distribution ceremony

On 19 August 2021, an award giving ceremony was held at the stadium by the state government to honor the athletes who won the medals at 2020 Summer Olympics that was held in 2021 at Tokyo, Japan. They all were facilitated with monetary rewards given by the Uttar Pradesh government. The highest prize was given to Neeraj Chopra who was the only one from India to win gold medal in Javelin throw.^[25]

Swearing-in ceremony

On 25 March 2022, at the venue Yogi Adityanath took oath as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh along with his cabinet, after his impressive victory in 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections. The oath was given by the Governor of state, Anandiben Patel.

Many VVIP's, celebrities, big businessmen were invited in the ceremony including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home minister Amit Shah and the Chief Ministers of NDA led states.^[26]

Cricket World Cup

2023 Men's World Cup

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Records

List of international centuries

Test matches

Only one Test century has been scored at the venue.^[27]

One Day Internationals

Three ODI centuries have been scored at the venue, two in a men's match and one in a women's match.^{[29] [30]}

Men's ODI centuries on the ground

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Versus	Date	Result
1	109*			145		11 November 2019	West Indies won[31]
2	109			106		12 October 2023	South Africa won [32]

Twenty20 Internationals

Only one T20I century has been scored at the venue.^[34]

List of international five-wicket hauls

Test matches

No.	Bowler	Date	Team	Versus	Inn	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Result
1					1	25.3	75	7	West Indies won
2					2	28.3	74	5	West Indies won

T20Is

See also

• Saifai International Cricket Stadium
  • List of Test cricket grounds Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium, Himachal Pradesh
• List of international cricket grounds in India
• Lists of stadiums

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cricket Venues and Grounds . . 22 December 2023.
2. Web site: ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 - Media Guide . ICC . 19 November 2023.
3. Web site: Ekana International Cricket Stadium.
4. Web site: 5 November 2018 . Ekana stadium named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee . limited . 5 November 2018 . United News of India.
5. Web site: 5 November 2018 . Lucknow stadium renamed in honour of Atal Bihari Vajpayee ahead of India-West Indies T20I . 5 November 2018 . India Today.
6. News: With on going inspections, Lucknow's cricket stadium a hot favourite to host IPL 2018 matches! . Knock Sense . 5 September 2018 . 5 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180905065316/https://knocksense.com/2018/01/29/going-inspections-lucknows-cricket-stadium-hot-favourite-host-ipl-2018-matches/ . dead .
7. Web site: Yogi Adityanath Inaugurates Lucknow Cricket Stadium, Changes Its Name . 2023-09-21 . NDTV.com.
8. News: 7 July 2019 . Afghanistan cricket team gets Lucknow Ekana stadium as their new home ground: BCCI . United News of India . 13 July 2019.
9. Web site: Venues at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023: a guide . 2023-09-21 . www.icc-cricket.com . en.
10. News: Ali . Qaiser Mohammad . 6 Dec 2016 . With Ranji Game, Lucknow Set To Become New Sports Hub . . 23 Jan 2023.
11. News: 30 August 2017 . Raina, Parthiv, Abhinav to captain Duleep Trophy teams . ESPNcricinfo . 30 August 2017.
12. Web site: Lucknow stadium ‘not up to mark’, Kanpur gets 3rd India-New Zealand ODI . 2023-01-23 . Scroll.in . en-US.
13. Web site: India, West Indies top orders in focus in Lucknow's international return. ESPNcricinfo. 6 November 2018.
14. News: Ekana stadium adds a new chapter to Lucknow. The Hindu. 5 November 2018. 5 November 2018. Sarangi. Y. b..
15. Web site: India to host West Indies for T20 in Lucknow as international cricket returns to city after 24 years . 2023-01-23 . Scroll.in . en-US.
16. Web site: Rohit Sharma Sets Record, Becomes First Batsman To Score Four T20I Centuries. NDTV Sports. 6 November 2018.
17. Web site: 2nd T20I (N), West Indies tour of India at Lucknow, Nov 6 2018. ESPNcricinfo. 6 November 2018.
18. Web site: India vs West Indies 2nd T20: Reopening a Nawabi chapter in Lucknow. The Indian Express. 6 November 2018. 6 November 2018.
19. Web site: Afghan seeks bigger home base in India. The Tribune. 1 August 2019.
20. Web site: Lucknow to be new venue for Afghanistan. Cricbuzz. 1 August 2019.
21. Web site: Hayden Walsh jnr has big dreams wearing the maroon . Cricket West Indies . 19 October 2019.
22. Web site: CPL's best brace for Afghanistan spin barrage . ESPNcricinfo . 6 November 2019.
23. Web site: face WI challenge in Ekana's maiden Test . Cricbuzz . 27 November 2019.
24. News: Lucknow to host Women's T20 Challenge from May 24–28, confirms BCCI president Sourav Ganguly . 24 April 2022 . Hindustan Times . 23 April 2022 . en.
25. Web site: August 19, 2021 . Fazal . Khan . Lucknow: Ekana Stadium decks up to welcome Tokyo Olympic achievers . 2022-09-22 . The Times of India . en.
26. Web site: 2022-03-25 . World's sixth-largest stadium for Yogi Adityanath's historic swearing-in: A sneak peek into Ekana Stadium . 2022-09-22 . Firstpost . en.
27. Web site: Test Match Batting Records. 13 November 2019. ESPNcricinfo.
28. Web site: Only Test, West Indies tour of India against Afghanistan at Lucknow, Nov 11 2019. ESPNcricinfo. 28 November 2019.
29. Web site: ODI Batting Records. 13 November 2019. ESPNcricinfo.
30. Web site: WODI Batting Records. 12 March 2021. ESPNcricinfo.
31. Web site: 3rd ODI (D/N), West Indies tour of India against Afghanistan at Lucknow, Nov 11 2019. ESPNcricinfo. 12 November 2019.
32. Web site: World Cup 2023 (D/N), Oct 12 2023. ESPNcricinfo. 12 October 2023.
33. Web site: 3rd WODI, South Africa Women tour of India at Lucknow, Mar 12 2021. ESPNcricinfo. 12 March 2021.
34. Web site: T20I Batting Records. 29 August 2019. ESPNcricinfo.
35. Web site: 2nd T20I, West Indies tour of India at Lucknow, Nov 6 2018. ESPNcricinfo. 24 August 2019.
36. Web site: 2nd T20I West Indies tour of India against Afghanistan 2019–20 . ESPNcricinfo . 29 November 2019.