Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, formerly Ekana International Cricket Stadium,[2][3][4] and commonly known as Ekana Cricket Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in India. It is a stadium under public-private partnership and is a venue for Test, ODI, T20I, Indian Premier League and for many other domestic tournament cricket matches. With a seating capacity of 50,000, it became the fifth largest international cricket stadium in India.[5] Formerly known as the Ekana International Cricket Stadium, it was later renamed after Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a former Indian Prime Minister.[2][3][4]

BRSABV Ekana cricket stadium

Ekana Cricket Stadium
Panorama of interior of this stadium
Former names	Ekana International Cricket Stadium (2017-2018)
Address	Ekana Sportz City, Gomti Nagar Extension Lucknow India
Coordinates	26°48′40″N 81°01′01″E
Elevation	104 m
Owner	Ekana Sportz City
Operator	Ekana Sportz City
Capacity	50,000
Field shape	Round
Surface	Grass
Construction
Opened	2017; 5 years ago (2017)
Architect	Skyline Architectural Consultants[1]
Tenants
Uttar Pradesh cricket team Lucknow Super Giants India national cricket team India women's national cricket team Afghanistan national cricket team
Website
www.ekana.com/cricket-stadium
Ground information
End names
North End South End
International information
Only Test	27–29 November 2019:  Afghanistan v  West Indies
First ODI	6 November 2019:  Afghanistan v  West Indies
Last ODI	6 October 2022:  India v  South Africa
First T20I	6 November 2018:  India v  West Indies
Last T20I	24 February 2022:  India v  Sri Lanka
First WODI	7 March 2021:  India v  South Africa
Last WODI	17 March 2021:  India v  South Africa
First WT20I	20 March 2021:  India v  South Africa
Last WT20I	23 March 2021:  India v  South Africa
Team information
Uttar Pradesh cricket team (2017-present) Lucknow Super Giants (2022-present)
As of 6 October 2022 Source: Cricinfo

The stadium has the longest straight boundaries in comparison to all the stadiums in India. It serves as the home ground for the Uttar Pradesh cricket team and it is also going to serve as the home ground for the IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants from 2023 season.

In July 2019, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approved it as the third home ground in India for Afghanistan national cricket team.[6]

History

Before its international debut, it also hosted the final of the 2017–18 Duleep Trophy.[7] On 6 November 2018, the stadium hosted its first international match, a Twenty20 International (T20I) between India and the West Indies,[8] becoming the 52nd stadium in India to host an international cricket match.[9] In that match Rohit Sharma became the first cricketer to score four centuries in T20Is.[10] India won that match by 71 runs.[11] 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.[12]

In May 2019, Afghanistan Cricket Board requested the BCCI to use this venue for their international matches.[13] 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.[14]

It hosted all the matches during Afghanistan vs West Indies series in 2019.[15] On 6 November 2019, the venue hosted its first ODI match.[16] On 27 November 2019, the venue hosted its first Test match.[17]

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.[18]

The stadium has been considered to host the home matches of the IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants from 2023 season. BCCI announced that the old home and away format is going to be back in the league from 2023 as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 season.[19]

Events hosted

The stadium has hosted two major events organized by the government.

Award giving 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 the Niraj Chopra who was the only one from India to won gold medal in Javelin throw.[20]

Oath-taking ceremony

On 25 March 2022, the venue hosted the oath taking ceremony of Chief Minister, Shri Yogi Adityanath and his ministers of the consecutive second ministry after the historic win in 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections. The oath was given by the Governor Anandiben Patel. Many VVIP's, celebrities, big businessmen were invited in the ceremony including the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah and the Chief Ministers of various big and NDA led Indian states.[21]

List of international centuries

Tests

Only one Test century has been scored at the venue.[22]

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Inns.	Opposing team	Date	Result
1	111*	Shamarh Brooks	West Indies	214	2	Afghanistan	28 November 2019	Won[23]

One Day Internationals

Only one ODI century has been scored at the venue.[24]

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Inns.	Opposing team	Date	Result
1	109*	Shai Hope	West Indies	145	2	Afghanistan	11 November 2019	Won[25]

Twenty20 Internationals

Only one T20I century has been scored at the venue.[26]

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Inns.	Opposing team	Date	Result
1	111*	Rohit Sharma	India	61	1	West Indies	6 November 2018	Won[27]

Women's One Day Internationals

Only one WODI century has been scored at the venue.[28]

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Inns.	Opposing team	Date	Result
1	132*	Lizelle Lee	South Africa	132	2	India	12 March 2021	Won[29]

List of international five-wicket hauls

Five-wicket hauls in Tests at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium

No.	Bowler	Date	Team	Opposing Team	Inn	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ	Batsmen	Result
1	Rahkeem Cornwall	27 November 2019	West Indies	Afghanistan	1	25.3	75	7	2.94	Ibrahim Zadran Ihsanullah Rahmat Shah Nasir Jamal Asghar Afghan Afsar Zazai Yamin Ahmadzai	Won[23]
2	Hamza Hotak	27 November 2019	Afghanistan	West Indies	2	28.3	74	5	2.61	Kraigg Brathwaite John Campbell Shamarh Brooks Jason Holder Kemar Roach	Lost[23]

T20Is

Five-wicket hauls in T20Is at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium

No.	Bowler	Date	Team	Opposing Team	Inn	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ	Batsmen	Result
1	Karim Janat	16 November 2019	Afghanistan	West Indies	2	4	11	5	2.2	Shimron Hetmyer Evin Lewis Sherfane Rutherford Kieron Pollard Keemo Paul	Won[30]

Gallery

External view before inauguration (left); outside view of the stadium during sunset (centre); inside view of the stadium (right)

See also

• Lucknow Super Giants
• Indian Premier League
• K.D Singh Babu Cricket Stadium
• Green Park Stadium
• Saifai International Cricket Stadium
• List of Test cricket grounds
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium, Himachal Pradesh

References

На других языках

[de] Ekana International Cricket Stadium