M. A. Chidambaram Stadium

History

Early years

In 1846, a cricket ground designed by Henry Irwin was established by Alexander Arbuthnot in the Chepauk palace grounds. In 1859, the Madras Presidency acquired the Chepauk palace from the Nawab of Carnatic. In 1865, a new pavilion was constructed and it became the home of the Madras Cricket Club (MCC). The original Chisholm pavilion located in the southwestern corner of the ground was badly damaged in a cyclone in 1889, and a new pavilion was constructed to replace the same in 1892. The new Irwin pavilion was built in Anglo-Indian architecture. The venue hosted a match between the touring Europeans versus the Indians Presidency in 1908. The stadium was formally established in 1916 when the presidency matches were planned as an annual event.

International venue

Chepauk hosted its first cricket test match in February 1934 during England's tour of India which was won by England. It is the second oldest international cricket stadium in India that is still in use after the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It subsequently hosted the first match of the inaugural Ranji Trophy between Madras and Mysore in November of the same year. In 1946, the first attempts were made to build a larger stadium by Anthony De Mello, which was accepted by the MCC subject to the approval of the Indian government. The stadium played host to the fifth test of the series when England toured India in 1951-52. In February 1952, India recorded its first-ever test win when it beat England by an innings and eight runs.

When M. A. Chidambaram became the president of the Madras Cricket Association (MCA) in 1956, the association wanted to occupy the ground permanently. However, the MCC was reluctant to loan the use of the ground, fearing that regular use would lead to deterioration of the facilities. Hence, after India's first test victory in 1952, test matches in Madras were hosted at the corporation stadium till January 1967. When the 30-year lease of the stadium held by the MCC ended in 1966, the MCA obtained the least from the Madras government.

Permanent structure and renaming

The MCA changed its name to the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) after the state was renamed from Madras State to Tamil Nadu. The TNCA wanted to build a permanent structure as the stadium still hosted matches with temporary stands and the foundation stone for the new stadium structure was laid in 1971. The Government of Tamil Nadu gave with Chidambaram donating a similar amount from his wealth and the Madras Race Club donated . The remaining amount of was loaned by the banks. The construction was completed in 1981.

Beginning in the late 1960s till the late 1980s, the stadium hosted a Test match in the second week of January which was termed the Pongal Test, as it coincided with the Pongal harvest festival. The Indian women's team played their second-ever women's test in November 1976 against the West Indies at Chepauk. The stadium was renamed from Madras Cricket Club Ground to M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in 1986. The venue was the host of the second ever tied test match in the history of the game during Australia's tour in 1986. The stadium hosted its first One-Day International match between India and Australia during the 1987 Cricket World Cup. It further hosted matches during the subsequent 1996 Cricket World Cup and 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup.

Major venue and further upgrades

A major reconstruction work was undertaken at the cost of in 2010 ahead of the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The plan consisted of constructing three new reinforced concrete stands which would accommodate an additional 12,000 spectators and the addition of 24 hospitality boxes. The renovation also included the construction of new translucent PTFE roofs to replace the old roofs supported by pillars that blocked the view of spectators and the redesigning of the stands at a gradient of 36°, which would let the sea breeze get into the ground. The stadium hosted four matches during the 2011 Cricket World Cup, which was won by India.

On 31 March 2015, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the renovation violated regulations relating to public safety. The court further ruled that the parts of the renovation which violate the regulations must be demolished and ordered the new stands to be sealed then. The stands remained sealed as the MCC gymnasium had to be demolished to adhere to the safety regulations laid down by the Greater Chennai Corporation and the MCC was reluctant to do so. After the lease agreement between the government and TNCA ended in 2016, the agreement was renewed in 2019 for 21 years with revised conditions. The stands were finally de-sealed and opened in March 2020.

Further renovation works were planned in 2021-22 ahead of the 2023 Cricket World Cup. In December 2021, the old Anna pavilion, some of the stands and the MCC clubhouse were demolished to make way for a new pavilion and new stands. The demolition temporarily reduced the capacity to 31,140. The renovations were done at a cost of and following its completion, the permanent seating capacity of the stadium expanded to 38,000. The new stand which housed the Anna Pavilion was named after former chief minister M. Karunanidhi and was inaugurated on 17 March 2023. The stadium hosted five matches during the 2023 Cricket World Cup. To prepare for the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup, the grass surface and the pitch was relaid as a part of planned renovation in late 2025. The stadium is the planned venue for seven matches during the World Cup to be held in February 2026.

Location and access

The stadium is located close to the Marina Beach and can be accessed from Wallajah Road in the north, Bells Road in the west, and Victoria Hostel Road parallel to the Buckingham Canal in the east. The Chennai MRTS line abuts the stadium and the Chepauk MRTS Railway Station is located to the south-east. The nearest station of the Chennai Metro is the Government Estate station.

Notable records

• The stadium was one of the venues of India's first-ever home series against England in 1934.
• The first match of the inaugural Ranji Trophy was held on 4 November 1934 between Madras and Mysore at Chepauk.
• India recorded their first Test victory against England at Chepauk in February 1952.
• The second-ever Tied Test in cricket history was played here between India and Australia in 1986.
• Sunil Gavaskar scored his 30th test match century against West Indies in 1983 breaking the record for most centuries in Test cricket held by Don Bradman.
• Narendra Hirwani took 8 wickets for 61 runs against the West Indies in January 1988, which are the best bowling figures by an Indian on Test debut and the third best overall. His match figures of 16 wickets for 136 runs in the match are a record for any bowler on debut.
• Saeed Anwar of Pakistan scored 194 against India in 1997, then the highest individual score in ODIs.
• On 15 October 2004, Shane Warne surpassed Muttiah Muralitharan's tally of 532 Test wickets to become the highest wicket-taker during the time.
• Virender Sehwag scored 319 runs off 278 balls against South Africa in the home series in April 2008, the fastest triple century in Test history. He also became only the third batsman after Bradman and Brian Lara to score two triple centuries in Test Cricket. He scored 257 runs the third day of the match, which was the most runs scored by an individual batsman on a single day of a Test match since 1954. Rahul Dravid completed 10,000 Test runs in the same match.
• Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most Test runs of any other venue in India in Chepauk with 876 runs in nine Tests at an average of 87.60.
• India scored 387/4 in the fourth innings of the first Test against England in December 2008, which is the second-highest successful run chase for India in Test cricket.
• In the final of the 2011 Indian Premier League (IPL) held at the venue, Chennai Super Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru to become the first team to win an IPL final at their home ground and successfully defend an IPL title.
• M S Dhoni scored 224 in the first test of the 2012–13 Border–Gavaskar Trophy against Australia on 24 February 2013. He became the first Indian wicket-keeper to score a double century in Test cricket.
• India scored 759 runs in their first innings of the fifth test against England in the home series in December 2016 with Karun Nair scoring 303 not out. This was India's highest team total in Test cricket and Nair became the second Indian after Sehwag to score a triple century.
• Joe Root scored 218 runs in the first test against India in their away series in February 2021, which was the highest score by an English cricketer in India, and also the highest score in the 100th Test of any individual.

Statistics

Overall

Individual

Cricket World Cup

This stadium has hosted 12 men's one-day matches across four Cricket World Cups and a single WODI match during the 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup.

1987 Cricket World Cup

----{{Limited overs matches

1996 Cricket World Cup

1997 Women's Cricket World Cup

2011 Cricket World Cup

----{{Limited overs matches ----{{Limited overs matches ----{{Limited overs matches

2023 Cricket World Cup

----{{Single-innings cricket match ----{{Single-innings cricket match ----{{Single-innings cricket match

References

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