Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium

Hyderabad

FACTS

Venue Description:

Rajiv International Stadium plays host to the Sunrisers Hyderabad. After the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) had limited access to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium - which belonged to the Sport Authority of Telangana State - the HCA proposed to build a new stadium. Also, because of its size, the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium was considered very small to host international matches.

The HCA's proposal to build a new stadium was approved immediately by the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N.Chandrababu Naidu. There was an auction held as to who would own the ground and Visaka Industries Ltd won the bid with a total amount of Rs. 65,00,00,000. The stadium was also named after the company. However, former Chief Minister Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy decided to name it in the memory of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.

The first match here was played between India and South Africa in 2005. Since then, India have played 4 games at the venue and it is not a happy hunting ground as they have lost 3 out of the 5 ODIs played. However, India have had success in Tests, winning 2 out of the 3 games.

How does the pitch play?

Not much can be said about the wicket, as there have been very few matches played at this venue. But, generally, the wicket here is considered as a flat track, which tends to slow down as the game progresses. This means that the spinners would enjoy bowling here than the pacers.

India almost chased down 350 in an ODI against Australia - Sachin Tendulkar scored 175. On the other side, India have won two Tests by an innings against New Zealand and Australia - the spinners doing most of the damage.

STATS - TEST

STATS - ODI

STATS - T20