Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium (Hyderabad) Pitch Report, Results & Stats

Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium – Hyderabad

One of the most recent cricket grounds to come up in the country, the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium is located in Hyderabad, the capital city in the southern state of Telengana. Opened in 2004, the stadium hosted its first international cricketing fixture in 2005 when India hosted South Africa in an ODI. Before this stadium came up, international fixtures were held in Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad where the small size of the ground often resulted in high-scoring affairs. The stadium became the home ground of the Indian T20 League side Deccan Chargers in 2008 and now serves as the home ground of the Hyderabad team which succeeded Deccan Chargers as the team representing the city from 2013. It also hosted the final of the Indian T20 League in 2019 which was won by Mumbai.

Nature of the Pitch
The pitch isn’t low and slow like the pitches in Kolkata and Chennai but definitely favors the bowlers more as the average score on the pitches in T20s since 2018 has been around mid 160s. Pacers often take more wickets here than the spinners but spinners prove to be more economical. The Hyderabad team has been able to exploit the home conditions well and have enjoyed much success here as they have won 30 out of 44 matches of the Indian T20 League here before the 2023 edition commenced.

General Information about the Stadium
The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium has a seating capacity of close to 50,000 which is about 25,000 more than what the older stadium in the city offered. Due to the stadium being located in the Uppal area of the city, it’s also fondly referred to as Uppal Stadium by the locals. The two bowling ends of the stadium are called Pavilion End and North End. Several Hyderabad cricketers who have played for India have been honoured with stands named in their honour. Some of them include M.L Jaisimha, Arshad Ayub, Abbas Ali Baig. Even VVS Laxman and Mohammed Azharuddin have stands in the stadium named after them.

History
The stadium came up because the older stadium in the city – the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium – was owned by the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh which meant that the Hyderabad Cricket Association had limited control over the ground. In 2003, the Hyderabad Cricket Association submitted a proposal for a new stadium which was cleared and money was allocated for the construction of a new state of the art stadium in the city. The stadium was initially called Visaka International Cricket Stadium but was renamed to Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium by the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in honour of India’s former Prime Minister.

As of March 2023, India have hosted 7 ODIs at this stadium and have won four out of them. They had to wait till 2011 to register their first ODI win as they lost the first three ODIs at this stadium. However, in Tests, the team has enjoyed a better record and have won four out of five contests here. The first Test was hosted in 2010 when India played New Zealand and resulted in a draw. The pitch came under attack by Harbhajan Singh, who had himself scored a century on the track for being unhelpful to the bowlers. The first T20I that the stadium hosted was between Australia and India but unfortunately had to be abandoned without a ball being bowled because of the impact of the showers from the previous day on the pitch. India has played two matches after that in the shortest format and have won both.

Trivia
In 2009, Sachin Tendulkar scored 175 in an ODI while chasing Australia’s 350 but since India couldn’t win the match, it still remains the highest score by an Indian in a losing cause.
Yuvraj Singh scored two centuries on this ground, one against South Africa and the other against Australia. Both the knocks however, came in losing causes