Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium

Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium is a cricket stadium located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. With the straight boundaries of 80-yard and square boundaries of 85-yard, the stadium makes a place for itself in the list of the largest cricket stadiums in the world in terms of length of boundaries. It is spread over 33 acres and its seating capacity is 45,000.

The stadium authority claims that it is by far the best stadium in India in terms of facilities. The great Sachin Tendulkar himself backed the statement when he said, "The facilities exceeded all expectations."

History

The construction of the stadium completed in 2008 and in the same year, from 6th to 10th November, the stadium hosted its first Test match.

It was the last match of the bilateral series between India and Australia. India had won the match by 172 runs.

Major Matches

It has hosted six Tests, eight ODIs and 11 T20Is till the end of the 2017. In November 2010, India thrashed New Zealand by an innings and 198 runs which is India’s second largest victory at this venue after victory over Sri Lanka in November 2017.

First ODI for this venue was held on 28 October 2009 between India and Australia. Visitors had lost the match by 99 runs.

Controversies

In December 2015, ICC had given an official warning under its pitch monitoring process, after the third Test between India and South Africa. Jeff Crowe, the match refree of the test match had rated the pitch 'poor’.

During India-England series in February 2017, FIRs have been filed against the administrative body of the stadium for various violations and non-compliance of the collector and senior officer's orders and notifications. Police told media that match was conducted without the mandatory police permission.

Recent Matches

On 29 Jan 2017, Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium hosted India-England T20 match, which was an absolute thriller. India managed to win by 5 runs, thanks to death over specialist Bumrah.

On 1 October 2017, India hosted Australia at this venue for the last match of 5-match ODI series.