MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chennai) Pitch Report, Results & Stats

MA Chidambaram Stadium – Chennai

The MA Chidambaram Stadium is one of the oldest cricket stadiums in the country. The stadium is situated in the Chepauk locality of Chennai, which is the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India. The stadium has a lot of historical value in Indian cricket and has hosted more than 30 Tests, second only to Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. The first Test match played here was in the 1930s when England came on their first tour to India in 1933-34. In 1952, it became the first venue where the Indian Test team registered its first ever victory. The crowd that comes to watch the matches here has been hailed for there passion and respect for opposition teams and players. In the Indian T20 League, the stadium serves as the home ground of the Chennai team, which is one of the most successful teams of the league on account of winning four trophies.

The Nature of the Pitch
Traditionally, the pitch in Chennai has been known for assisting spinners with turn and bounce. However, since 2002, the centre square consisting eight pitches has been relaid multiple times. After clay-soil content contributed to low bounce, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association went back to red soil in 2014. Pacers however don’t get enough bounce from the surface and early on, the batters take a bit of time to adjust to the sluggish nature of the pitch. In the Indian T20 league, teams prefer to bowl first after winning the toss but chasing hasn’t always been the winning route for the teams. In the Indian T20 league, the average first innings score has been 150 while the average first innings winning score has been around 165 since 2019. While pacers and spinners have gotten an equal number of wickets here since 2019, there is a drastic difference in the economy and strike rates of the spinners and pacers.

History
The stadium was established in the year of 1916 and was known as the Madras Cricket Club Ground or Chepauk Stadium before it was renamed to MA Chidambaram Stadium. The ground remains historic for having hosted the first ever match of India’s Premier Domestic First Class tournament, the Ranji Trophy, in 1934.The first Test the stadium hosted saw India facing defeat at the hands of England in 1934. The stadium also got its name etched in history in 1986 when it witnessed the second tie being played out between any two teams. The teams that played out the tied test of 1986 were hosts India and Australia. Several years later, in 2008, Virender Sehwag would score the highest score by an Indian when he piled up 319 against South Africa on this very ground.

General Information about the Stadium
The stadium is very close to the famous Marina Beach of Chennai, and that’s why the sea breeze often has a major impact on how the pitch behaves. Right across the stadium stands the Chepauk Palace which used to be the official residence of the Nawab of Arcot from 1768 to 1855. The place where the stadium stands today used to be part of the palace grounds of the Chepauk Palace. The stadium is fondly called the Chepauk even now by the locals. The recent renovation of the stadium has led to an increase in capacity from around 38,000 to 50,000. The two ends in the stadium are called Anna Pavilion End and V Pattabhiraman Gate End.

Trivia
Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar made a record breaking highest score of 194 against India in 1997 which was the highest score in men’s ODIs until Sachin Tendulkar reached the 200 landmark against South Africa in 2010.
India’s Rahul Dravid scored his 10,000th Test run on this ground.
India’s Sunil Gavaskar notched up his record-breaking 30th Test hundred on this ground in 1983-84.
Indian leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani claimed the best match analysis by a player on Test debut, finishing with 16 for 136 against West Indies in 1988
Karun Nayar scored his first Test century and turned it into a triple century against England in 2016, becoming the second Indian on the way with a Test triple hundred against his name.