Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium
View of Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium
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| Ground information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Greater Hyderabad, Telangana, India |
| Establishment | 2003 |
| Capacity | 55,000 |
| Owner | Hyderabad Cricket Association |
| Architect | Shashi Prabhu |
| Operator | Hyderabad Cricket Association |
| Tenants |
Indian Cricket Team Hyderabad cricket team Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| End names | |
| Shiv lal Yadav End VVS Laxman End |
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| International information | |
| First Test | 12–16 November 2010: India v  New Zealand |
| Last Test | 2–5 March 2013: India v  Australia |
| First ODI | 16 November 2009: India v  South Africa |
| Last ODI | 9 November 2014: India v  Sri Lanka |
| As of 22 March 2016 Source: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, ESPNcricinfo |
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The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium is the principal cricket stadium in Hyderabad, Telangana, India and is the home ground of the Hyderabad Cricket Association.
It is located in Uppal, an eastern suburb of the city. It has a capacity of 55,000 spectators presently and extends across 16 acres (65,000 m2) of land. The ends are named Pavilion End and North End. On the retirement of VVS Laxman, the HCA decided to honour the state hero by naming the North End after him. Being one of the best stadiums in India, this stadium never hosted an ICC event and T20 International.
HCA's previous home ground was the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in the Fateh Maidan sports complex at Basheerbagh in central Hyderabad. The ground belonged to the Sports Authority of Telangana State and HCA had limited operating autonomy over this ground.
Moreover, due to its smaller size, it soon came to be known as a high-scoring ground and so Hyderabad was not considered for many high-profile cricket matches in India.
In 2003, the proposal for a new stadium was submitted by HCA to the government of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, then headed by N. Chandrababu Naidu. The proposal was quickly cleared and HCA was allocated a budget for the same. The government also identified a large piece of land suitable for the project at Uppal.
Most of the funding for the project came after an open auction of the stadium's title was held. Visaka Industries Limited won the auction with a bid price of Rs. 65,00,00,000. A sum of Rs. 43,00,00,000 was paid in advance and the stadium was named as Visakha International Cricket Stadium in 2004.
By 2005 when most of the stadium was built, it was ready to host its first ODI Match between India and South Africa. However, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh decided to change the name of the stadium to Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in memory of the former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi.
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