This historic ground which is India’s second oldest cricket stadium is located in the capital city, Delhi. It is named after the late Indian politician and attorney, Arun Jaitley. He was the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Indian Government for the period 2014 to 2019.The stadium is operated by the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA). The venue has a capacity to hold 55,000 spectators at a time.
History
Set up in the year 1883, the ground was named Feroz Shah Kotla because it was located near the Feroz Shah Kotla, a castle which was built by Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq. Back then, the local residents used to call the ground by the name “Kotla”, which means a fortress.
The venue witnessed its first Test match in the year 1948 when the West Indies toured India for a 5-match series. The game took place between November 14 to November 18 and ended in a draw. The ground saw its first ODI on 15th September 1982 when India clashed against Sri Lanka where the hosts won comfortably by 6 wickets. The maiden T20I was played here on March 23, 2016 when Afghanistan locked horns with England in the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup where England emerged victorious by 15 runs.
After 136 years since its inception, the cricket arena was renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium on 12th September 2019 in a function at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in memory and as a tribute to Arun Jaitley. This came in as a decision because he was the former President of DDCA as well as the Vice-President of the BCCI. Next year on 28th December, Home Minister Amit Shah revealed the statue of Arun Jaitley at the newly named stadium.
Major Matches
The Arun Jaitley Stadium has hosted the 1987, 1996, and the 2011 ICC ODI World Cup matches alongside matches played in the 2016 ICC Y20 World Cup.
India’s Hemu Adhikari, and Ghulam Ahmed formed a 109-run partnership for the tenth wicket against Pakistan in a 1952 Test match.
The Indian bowler S Venkateaghavan picked up 8/72 and 4/80 in his maiden series against New Zealand in the Test played in 1965. In the 1969-70 Test, Bedi, and Prasanna developed a spin web to take India to a historic victory over the Aussies where they got a combined 18 Australian wickets.
England’s all-rounder John Lever debuted here in 1976 where he scored an impressive fifty and took a mind boggling match figures of 10/70. Fast forward to 1981, English cricketer Geoff Boycott beat West Indian Gary Sobers’ world record Test aggregate while playing at this ground.
In the year 1983-84, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar equalled Don Bradman’s record for the most number of Test centuries by scoring his 29th ton in Delhi. The stadium was a spectator to Anil Kumble’s historic 10/74 in an innings which took place in the 1999 Test against Pakistan. This performance of his made him the second Test bowler to wipe out all 10 wickets by himself after England’s Jim Laker.
Later in the year 2005, India’s prime batter Sachin Tendulkar made it to the record books when he notched up his 35th international Test hundred versus Sri Lanka at this arena. With this, he surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 tons in Tests.
Recent Matches
The most recent cricket game which took place at this ground was the 2nd Test of the 2023 Border Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia where the hosts won by 6 wickets.
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi Pitch Report
The pitch at this venue has been a paradise for the batsmen and has seen some epic scores in the past. However, things went south in the 2009 ODI match-up between India and Sri Lanka when an unusual behavior off the surface made the officials call off the match. This happened when Sri Lanka was 83-5 and the decision was taken due to the dangerous and unusual bounce which had the players’ safety at risk.
After the match referee’s report was released, the stadium was in threat of getting banned for a period of 12 to 24 months. If the ban would have been imposed for over 14 months, it would’ve ruled out the ground’s possibility to host the 2011 ICC World Cup.
Luckily for the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the ban was lifted after an year and the venue proceeded with hosting 4 matches of the ODI Cricket World Cup alongwith the one where India faced Netherlands.
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi Test Records
| Matches Played | 37 |
| Matches won batting first | 6 |
| Matches won bowling first | 14 |
| Average 1st Innings scores | 340 |
| Average 2nd Innings scores | 315 |
| Average 3rd Innings scores | 233 |
| Average 4th Innings scores | 163 |
| Highest team score | 644/8 (214 Overs) by WI vs IND |
| Lowest team score | 75/10 (30.5 Overs) by IND vs WI |
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi ODI Records
| Matches Played | 28 |
| Matches won batting first | 13 |
| Matches won bowling first | 14 |
| Average 1st Innings scores | 223 |
| Average 2nd Innings scores | 203 |
| Highest team score | 330/8 (50 Overs) by WI vs NED |
| Lowest team score | 99/10 (27.1 Overs) by SA vs IND |
| Highest successful chase | 281/4 (40.5 Overs) by IND vs SL |
| Lowest successful defense | 174/7 by NZW vs INDW |
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi T20 Records
| Matches Played | 13 |
| Matches won batting first | 4 |
| Matches won bowling first | 9 |
| Average 1st Innings scores | 139 |
| Average 2nd Innings scores | 133 |
| Highest team score | 212/3 (19.1 Overs) by SA vs IND |
| Lowest team score | 120/10 (19.3 Overs) by SL vs SA |
| Highest successful chase | 212/3 (19.1 Overs) by SA vs IND |
| Lowest successful defense | 96/7 (30.5 Overs) by INDW vs PAKW |
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi IPL Records
| Matches Played | N/A |
| Matches won batting first | N/A |
| Matches won bowling first | N/A |
| Average 1st Innings scores | N/A |
| Average 2nd Innings scores | N/A |
| Highest team score | 231/4 (20 Overs) by DC vs PBKS |
| Lowest team score | 66/10 (13.4 Overs) by DC vs MI |
| Highest successful chase | 219/6 (20 Overs) by MI vs CSK |
| Lowest successful defense | N/A |
