Located on the banks of the river Ganga, the Green Park Stadium is a cricket ground located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It has a capacity of 39,255 and has been used occasionally by the Indian national cricket team.
The ground is owned by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, making it the only cricket ground in India which hosts international matches but is not owned by a state cricket association.
The stadium has hosted 22 Test matches, 14 one day internationals and one twenty20 international.
About
The two ends of the ground are called the Mill Pavilion End and the Hostel End. They are named after the Elgin Mills, and the DAV College located nearby.
The floodlights, which were installed in 2006, are slightly low when compared to other cricket grounds in India. The stadium has the largest manually operated scoreboard in the world.
The stadium is also called the “Woolmer Turf” in remembrance of the late cricket player and coach Bob Woolmer, who was born in the nearby Macrobert Hospital, situated opposite to the stadium.
History
The stadium was established in 1945. The Directorate Pavilion, new dressing rooms and VIP Pavilion were all constructed by the Uttar Pradesh Housing and Development Board as the ground is owned by the state government.
The cricket ground is named after the British lady Madam Green who used to go there for horse riding in the 1940s.
The first test match to be played there was on 12th January 1952 between India and England, while the first ODI match was played on 24th December 1986 between Sri Lanka and India.
Major Matches
It hosted one match in the 1987 Cricket World Cup, between West Indies and Sri Lanka.
Apart from that, it has hosted the Nehru Cup match between England and India in 1989 and one Wills World series 1994-95 match between West Indies and India.
Controversy
Kanpur is one of the most polluted cities in India, and as the ground is located on the banks of Ganges where most of the city’s age-old mills are also located, the air is heavy in smog.
Moreover, the pitch is described as “lifeless” at best, as the pitch is extremely unreliable in terms of pace and bounce. Batsmen make the most out of this pitch. Pakistani former cricketer Shahid Afridi hit a quickfire century in 45 balls at this very venue.
The cricket ground did not host day and night one day internationals because of its low hung floodlights which cast a large shadow of the new constructed Director Stand on the outfield. This structural fault is one of the reasons why the cricket ground is used very sporadically for international matches.
Recent Matches
The Green Park Stadium recently hosted its first day/night ODI match on 29th October 2017, between India and New Zealand.
