Arun Jaitley Stadium – History, Stats, Records, Controversies & More

Arun Jaitley Stadium is an International Cricket stadium situated in New Delhi at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. The Arun Jaitley Stadium was recently renamed, and it was earlier known as Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

The stadium came into inception in 1883 and was called Feroz Shah Kotla as it was in the proximity of the Kotla Fort. This stadium happens to be 2^nd oldest International Cricket stadium in India. The iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata grabs the 1^st rank of being the oldest in the country.

The Arun Jaitley Stadium is maintained by the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA). DDCA, as a part of felicitation, renamed 4 stands of the popular ground after legendary Cricketers from Delhi.

They were Former Captain of India, Bishan Singh Bedi, followed by Former Indian all-rounder Mohinder Amarnath. Two of the remaining stands were renamed after Former India opening bat Gautam Gambhir and current India Skipper Virat Kohli.     

DDCA also renamed the dressing room of the home Team after Raman Lamba. On the other hand, the dressing room of the opposition was renamed after Prakash Bhandari.

The Arun Jaitley Stadium has been extremely lucky for the Indian Cricket Team. The Team has not been beaten for the last 28 years in Test Cricket as of 2016. What’s more, Team India also has not been defeated in the ODI format for the last 10 years.

The ground has seen so many records being made here. And one of the most significant ones was the 29^th Test century of Sunil Gavaskar. He did that to match the then-record of Don Bradman who also had 29 tons in Test Cricket. Anil Kumble found the pitch of Kotla so favorable that he ended up picking all 10 wickets in a Test innings against Pakistan. Even ‘Little Master’ Sachin Tendulkar scored his 35th Century here & surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s record to become the batsman with maximum Test tons.

The Arun Jaitley Stadium has managed to host 34 Tests, 25 One-Dayers, and 6 T20 Internationals as of 25 October 2019.

The renaming of the stadium – Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium to Arun Jaitley Stadium

The Delhi District Cricket Association announced that the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground is going to be renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium. The announcement came on 27 August 2019. And the change was made to honor the late DDCA President and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Arun Jaitley is credited to bringing revolutionary changes in the stadium such as increasing seating capacity and more during his tenor as DDCA Chief. A function was held on 12 September 2019 to mark the change of name. Even the stadium’s one of the stands was named after Virat Kohli on the same date.

The Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium was renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium in the memory of Former DDCA President and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. DDCA decided to rename the ground in his memory after he passed away on 24 August 2019. Arun Jaitley had also served as the Vice-President of the Board of Cricket for Cricket in India (BCCI).

“The contribution of Arun Jaitley was instrumental in supporting and encouraging players such as Virat, Sehwag, Gambhir, Nehra and Nehra in making India proud.”

Rajat Sharma, the President of DDCA, was stated as saying on the contribution of Arun Jaitley to Cricket.

However, DDCA did come out with a clarification that only the stadium has been renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium. But the ground will still be known as Feroz Shah Kotla Ground.

Arun Jaitley Stadium – History

The inaugural match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium was played between India and West Indies on 10 November 1948. Ever since then, the stadium is owned and operated by the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA).

Arun Jaitley Stadium – Records

• India’s Ghulam Ahmed and Hemu Adhikari stitched a record partnership for the 10^th wicket against Pakistan in 1952. The duo scored 111 runs together, and it is a record that is still unbroken.
• S. Venkataraghavan ripped apart New Zealand batting order and returned with the figure 8/72 and 4/80. It was his first Series that he featured in 1965.
• During 1969-1970, Erapalli Prasanna and Bishan Singh Bedi collaborated to help India pocket a famous 7 wickets victory over Aussies. The duo went on to take 18 wickets between them.
• It was also the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground where Geoff Boycott surpassed the world Test aggregate of Gary Sobers in the year 1981.

Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium – Special Accomplishments

• 1983-1984 saw Sunil Gavaskar scoring his 29^th century in Test Cricket. It helped him to match the long-standing record of Don Bradman of a maximum number of tons in Tests.
• While playing in a match against the arch-rivals Pakistan in 1999-2000, Anil Kumble registered himself into the records book. He went on to take all 10 wickets in an innings by giving only 74 runs. After Jim Laker, he became only the 2^nd bowler to do so.
• Sachin Tendulkar also went past Sunil Gavaskar’s record of most hundred by scoring his 35^th ton during 2005-2006.

Some Key Records & Stats of the Stadium

Arun Jaitley Stadium – Ground Ban Issues

A One-Day International between India and Sri Lanka had to be called off as the pitch conditions were deemed to be unfit to host an international game. The date was 27 December 2009 when ICC banned the ground for 12 months. It was done after the match referee submitted the report. The ground could only get back into action during the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Arun Jaitley Stadium – Indian Premier League

The Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi, is the home ground of the Delhi Daredevils (now, Delhi Capitals). It has been the home ground of DC ever since the inception of the Indian Premier League in 2008.

Arun Jaitley Stadium – Smog Incident

It was 2^nd day of the Test match between India and Sri Lanka in 2017-2018 when smog forced Sri Lankan players to stop playing. It was one of its kinds of an incident where players had to wear anti-pollution masks.

Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Gamage faced shortness of breath. On the other hand, as reported by Nic Pothas, Coach of the Sri Lankan Team, Suranga Lakmal vomited frequently. Owing to this rare issue, the play had to be halted from 12:32 PM to 12:49 PM.

The entire episode forced Ravi Shastri, the Indian Coach to come out and discuss with ground umpires. Sri Lanka Team was accused of making a mountain out of a mole. And even viewers declared it as ‘melodramatic’. But Mohammed Shami of India was also spotted to be vomiting on the ground on Day 4 of the Test match.

Since Delhi was in the news for a high level of pollution, both India and Sri Lanka condemned the decision to play in the Capital. Both Teams also had to use oxygen cylinders in the dressing rooms owing to breathing concerns.

Arun Jaitley Stadium – Records in Multiple Formats of the Game

Test Cricket Records

• West Indies has the credit of scoring the highest Test score on this ground when they made 644 for 8 in 1959 and 631/10 in 1948. India is next in the line when it made 613 for 7 in 2008.
• Dilip Vengsarkar has scored the most number of runs (673 runs) here. Sunil Gavaskar closely follows him with 668 runs and Sachin Tendulkar is at the 3^rd spot with 643 runs.
• Anil Kumble has most wickets on this ground (58 wickets), and Kapil Dev (32 wickets) and R Ashwin (27 wickets) are next in the line.

One Day International Records

• The ground has seen 300+runs being scored only on two occasions.
• 7 batsmen have managed to make a ton here.
• In 1989, Viv Richards returned with a 6 wickets haul Vs India here.  

ICC Cricket World Cups (50 overs format)

The Arun Jaitley Stadium has the honor of hosting 50 overs’ ICC Cricket World Cup Games in 1987, 1996 and 2011. These were the years when India conjointly hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup.

T20 Internationals Records at the ground

2016 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup

The Arun Jaitley Stadium got the chance to host 3 Group A matches, along with a Semi-Final during the 2016 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. An Afghanistan Vs England fixture in Group A was the first T20 International match that was held here.

Matches involving the Indian Cricket Team  

• On 1 November 2017, the ground hosted a T20i game between India and New Zealand. It was the 1^st T20i involving Team India at this venue. It also happened to be the last International game for Ashish Nehra.
• An end of the ground was named as ‘Ashish Nehra End’ by DDCA. This way, Nehra became only the 2^nd bowler to have bowled from an end named after him. James Anderson is another bowler with the honor.
• Also, the 1000^th Men’s T20i match was hosted here on 3 November 2019. It was a Bangladesh Vs India game, which Bangla Tigers won – their first T20i win in the shortest format of Cricket.

Feroz Shah Kotla Pitch Report

The wicket at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium / Arun Jaitley Stadium is majorly batting friendly. But it had to face criticism when an India Vs Sri Lanka game had to be canceled owing to bad pitch. Sri Lanka was reeling at 83/5 when Officials decided against continuing the game further.

It had to face the ban for 12 months. But it returned in action in 2011 WC when it held 4 Group Stages matches. It also included one involving India against the Netherlands.

Arun Jaitley stadium / Feroz Shah Kotla stadium Statistics