Eden Gardens is an international cricket stadium in Kolkata, India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 68,000. It is operated by Cricket Association of Bengal and is the home ground of the Kolkata Knight Riders. It houses the headquarters of Cricket Association of Bengal.
Eden Gardens is often referred to as home of Indian cricket and has also been described as "cricket's answer to the Colosseum" and called the "Mecca of Indian cricket", due to it being the first purpose-built ground for the sport. Eden Gardens has hosted matches in major international competitions including the World Cup, World Twenty20 and Asia Cup. In 1987, Eden Gardens became the second stadium to host a World Cup final. The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 final was held at the stadium, with the West Indies beating England in a closely fought encounter. Eden Gardens witnessed a record crowd of 110,564 in the 1996 India Vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup Semi Final.
Stadium history
The stadium was established in 1864. The origins of its name are uncertain. According to some, the stadium is named after the Eden Gardens park where it is located, itself named after the Eden sisters, Emily and Fanny, of Lord Auckland, the Governor-General of India (1836–1842). Initially named the 'Auckland Circus Gardens', the park was renamed to the 'Eden Gardens' in 1841.
However, according to popular culture, Babu Rajchandra Das, the zamindar of Janbazar, Kolkata and husband of Rani Rashmoni, gifted one of his biggest gardens, Marh Bagan, besides the river Hooghly, to Lord Auckland and his sister Emily Eden in gratitude for their help in saving his third daughter from a fatal disease. The garden was then renamed to the Eden Gardens.
The cricket grounds were built between Babughat and Fort William. The stadium is in the B. B. D. Bagh area of the city, near the State Secretariat and across from the Calcutta High Court.
The first Test match at the venue was held in 1934 between England and India, its first One Day International in 1987 between India and Pakistan and its first T20 international in 2011 between India and England. The 1993 Hero Cup semi-final featuring India and South Africa was the first day/night match.
The stadium also hosted matches of the inaugural edition of Nehru Cup in 1982. The Eden Gardens also hosted the India versus Uruguay football match in 1984 Nehru Cup.
1980 Stampede 16 people were killed in a stampede and riot inside Eden Gardens during a Mohun Bagan-East Bengal Calcutta Football League (CFL) match on 16 August 1980.
Stadium The stadium is the headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal. Apart from international matches, the stadium hosts the Bengal cricket team and the Kolkata Knight Riders, an Indian Premier League franchise. The stadium's Club House is named after former Chief Minister of West Bengal Dr. B. C. Roy.
1987 renovation The stadium's capacity was expanded to 100,000 from 40,000 for the 1987 World Cup. The expansion also included renovations to the press area. 42 columns were added to provide the support for large roofs and multi-tiered covered stands. Even after the renovation, not all seats were covered, and many sections lacked individual seats.
However, match day attendance of more than 100,000 spectators has been recorded on at least 6 occasions until the early 2000s.
2011 renovation Eden Gardens underwent renovation for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.Kolkata's Eden Gardens stadium gets a new look for Cricket World Cup 2011 . World Interior Design Network. Retrieved on 10 June 2010 Renovation had been undertaken to meet the standards set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the 2011 World Cup. The Cricket Association of Bengal hired a consortium of Philadelphia-based Burt Hill Architects(now INI Design Studio) and Ahmedabad-based VMS architecture firms for a two-year project to renovate the stadium. The plans for the renovated stadium included a new clubhouse and players' facilities, upgrades of the exterior walls to give the stadium a new look, cladding the existing roof structure with a new metal skin, new/upgraded patron amenities & signage and general infrastructure improvements. The upgrade also meant reduction of the seating capacity to about 68,000 from around 94,000 before the upgrade.Kolkata's Eden Gardens stadium gets a new look for Cricket World Cup 2011 . World Interior Design Network. Retrieved on 16 November 2022
Due to unsafe conditions arising from the incomplete renovations, the ICC withdrew the India vs. England match from the Eden Gardens. This match, scheduled on 27 February 2011, was played in Bengaluru at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The stadium hosted the remaining three scheduled World Cup 2011 Matches on 15, 18 and 20 March 2011. In the last of these three matches (Kenya vs Zimbabwe), the stadium had the lowest ticket-purchasing crowd in its recorded history with 15 spectators having bought tickets.
Stands Eden Gardens stands have been named after prominent local cricketers and soldiers.On 22 January 2017, two stands were named after Indian cricketers - Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy while two more were named after cricket administrators - BN Dutt (BCCI President 1988 to 1990) and Jagmohan Dalmiya (BCCI President 2001–04, 2013 - interim, 2015). Dalmiya served as ICC President from 1997 to 2000.
On 27 April 2017, 4 stands were named after Indian soldiers - Colonel Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair, Havildar Hangpan Dada, Lieutenant Colonel Dhan Singh Thapa and Subedar Joginder Singh Sahnan. Lt Col Thapa and Subedar Singh are Param Vir Chakra awardees - the highest wartime military decoration in India while Col Nair and Havildar Dada are Ashok Chakra - the highest peacetime military decoration.
In 2024, a stand was decided to be dedicated to star Indian pacer and the highest ODI wicket taker among women, Jhulan Goswami. It was unveiled on 22 January 2025.
Experience
Eden Gardens is renowned for its large and passionate crowds. Former Aussie captain Steve Waugh considers the Eden Gardens as 'Lord's of the subcontinent'. Former Indian Captain and Kolkata-native Sourav Ganguly confessed once in an interview that the roar of crowd at the stadium he heard when India defeated Australia in the Second Test of 2000–01 Border–Gavaskar Trophy was the loudest he had ever heard.
In 2016, a bell was added to the stadium to ring in the start of day's play for test cricket and start of match for ODI & T20I matches. Kapil Dev was the first person to ring the bell to start the test match between India and New Zealand in September 2016.
Recent tournament results Cricket World Cup
YearDateTeam #1Team #2RoundResult1987 Cricket World Cup23 October 1987Group Stage won by 4 wickets8 November 1987Final won by 7 runs1996 Cricket World Cup13 March 1996Semi-Final won by default2011 Cricket World Cup15 March 2011Group Stage won by 131 runs18 March 2011Group Stage won by 6 wickets20 March 2011Group Stage won by 161 runs2023 Cricket World Cup28 October 2023Group Stage won by 87 runs31 October 2023Group Stage won by 7 wickets5 November 2023Group Stage won by 243 runs11 November 2023Group Stage won by 93 runs16 November 2023Semi-Final won by 3 wickets
ICC Men's T20 World Cup
YearDateTeam #1Team #2RoundResult2016 ICC World Twenty2017 March 2016Super 10 won by 6 wickets16 March 2016Super 10 won by 55 runs19 March 2016Super 10 won by 6 wickets26 March 2016Super 10 won by 75 runs3 April 2016Final won by 4 wickets2026 Men's T20 World Cup7 February 2026Round 1 won by 35 runs9 February 2026Round 1 won by 73 runs14 February 2026Round 1 won by 5 wickets16 February 2026Round 1 won by 24 runs19 February 2026Round 1 won by 42 runs1 March 2026Super 8 won by 5 wickets4 March 2026Semi-Final won by 9 wickets
Asia Cup
YearDateTeam #1Team #2RoundResult1990–91 Asia Cup31 December 1990Group Stage won by 71 runs4 January 1991Final won by 7 wickets
Cricket World Cup matches
Eden Gardens has hosted 15 Cricket World Cup matches hosted in India across formats and men's and women's cricket. Eden Gardens has hosted 11 Cricket World Cup matches in 1987 (2 including the final), 1996 (1), 2011 (3) and 2023 (5, including a semi-final). The stadium hosted 5 T20I matches each during 2016 ICC World Twenty20 (including Finals) and 2026 Men's T20 World Cup (including Semi Finals). The stadium hosted 2 Women's Cricket World Cup matches - one each in 1978 and 1997 and one match of Women T20I match during the 2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament.
Eden Gardens has hosted 4 finals (1987 ODI CWC, 2016 T20I, 1997 Women's CWC and 2016 Women's T20I) and 2 semi-finals (1996 ODI CWC, 2023 ODI CWC).
1987 ICC Cricket World Cup
Finals
1996 ICC Cricket World Cup
2011 ICC Cricket World Cup
Eden Gardens was meant to host a Group B Match between India and England on 27 February 2011. The ICC, however, stripped the stadium of the match after deciding that the renovation of the grounds would not be completed in time.
2023 ICC Cricket World Cup
Semi-final
2016 ICC World Twenty20
1978 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup
1997 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup
2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20
First day/night test
Notable events
In 1946, an in-form Syed Mushtaq Ali was dropped from the Indian team selected to play an unofficial test against Australian Services XI. Following crowd protests (with slogans like "No Mushtaq, No Test"), the selectors brought him back to play. Rioting occurred at the ground during the 1966/67 West Indies and 1969/70 Australian tours. In 1977, New York Cosmos played a Football match against Mohun Bagan at the stadium. Pelé played in that match for the Cosmos. The match was drawn at 2–2. 16 football fans died in a stampede after a derby league game between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan on 16 August 1980. Hosted Nehru Cup in 1984, where India national football team played against Argentina, Poland, China PR, Romania U-21 and Vasas Budapest. Eden Gardens hosted the 1987 Cricket World Cup Final which was first ever Cricket World Cup final hosted outside England. The match ended with Australia defeating England by 7 runs. This was the first time Australia won the Cricket World Cup Final. The 1996 Cricket World Cup semi-final was called off and Sri Lanka awarded the match after crowd disturbances following an Indian batting collapse. During the second final of the 1997 Pepsi Independence Cup, the Test and ODI captains of the Indian cricket team of all time (with a few notable exceptions) were given a lap of honour around the stadium. In 1999, leading Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar was run out after colliding with Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar. Akhtar had impeded Tendulkar and the crowd rioted, forcing the police to evict the spectators. The match continued in front of an empty stadium. Kapil Dev took an ODI hat-trick against the Sri Lankans in 1991 at the ground. Harbhajan Singh took a hat-trick against Australia in 2000/01 at the ground. He became the first Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. In 2000/01, V.V.S. Laxman scored 281 against Australia in the Second Test, 2000–01 Border–Gavaskar Trophy. This remains the highest score at the ground. He was involved in a memorable 376 runs partnership with Rahul Dravid who scored 180. They batted through the whole day 4 of the test match without losing their wickets. Australia were defeated despite enforcing the follow-on. It was only the third time in Test history that a team had won after being forced to follow on. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest Test matches in cricket history. In 2005, in an ODI against South Africa, the Eden Gardens crowd booed the Indian team and Greg Chappell because of Sourav Ganguly's dropping from the team. Chappell was alleged to have made an obscene gesture towards the crowd from the team bus prior to the match.