Eden Gardens

Eden Gardens holds its ground in the Maidan, a parkland that predates the club by several years. The Calcutta Cricket Club founded their home here in 1864, but the land was originally laid out under Lord Auckland in 1841, initially called Auckland Circus Gardens before it took the name that fits the venue today.

The crowd has seen the place changed. The 2011 renovation for the Cricket World Cup brought in new metal roof cladding and upgraded the exterior walls, dropping the capacity from its peak of around 100,000 to the official 68,000 that stands now. That reduction was made to meet International Cricket Council safety standards, a decision that has kept the stadium from swelling to its former size.

History here is measured in moments of disorder as much as triumph. The attendance record of 110,564 was set during the 1996 Cricket World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka, but the match was abandoned due to crowd trouble after India was bowled out for 120. A football match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal in 1980 resulted in a stampede that claimed 16 lives, a tragedy that sits alongside the cricket finals won by Australia and the West Indies within these walls.

The ground remains the primary home for Kolkata cricket. The Cricket Association of Bengal runs the site from their official address on Maidan, though plans to expand back to 100,000 seats have yet to take shape.