On the long list of reasons which make Vizag special is the Dr YSR ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium. Inaugurated in 2003, it was initially named ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. Later in 2009, it was renamed after the late ex-Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Rajasekhar Reddy, popularly known as YSR. Currently, it is the only major and international cricket stadium in AP and boasts a seating capacity of 27,000.
The Vizag cricket stadium is now gearing up to host an international match after almost two and half years. After a successful IPL stint, KL Rahul will be leading the Indian team against South Africa. The ACA-VDCA Stadium will host the 3rd T20i of the series on 14 June 2022. Ahead of the exciting IND vs SA T20 match, here are all the stats, records, and interesting facts about the Vizag stadium.
History and stats
The pitch at the ACA-VDCA Stadium is known to be batting friendly and owing to the short boundaries, matches here are often high-scoring. On 5 April 2005, the stadium hosted its first-ever international match. The match, in which Dhoni played a historic knock of 148 runs, was played between India and Pakistan. Since then, Vizag hosted 10 ODIs, 2 tests, and 3 T20is to date. Also, a few women’s ODIs and T20is were also held here. The first T20i here was played against New Zealand on 8 September 2012, while the first test was played between India and England in November 2016.
Vizag also hosted as many as 13 IPL matches since the inception of the league. It was named one of the home venues for the Deccan Chargers in 2012 and later in 2016 for Rising Pune Super Giants and Mumbai Indians. The first IPL match here was played on 9 April 2012 and the last was on 10 May 2019.
Interesting facts and records
MS Dhoni and Mayank Agarwal were the two batsmen who scored their maiden international centuries at this venue. No cricket fan in Vizag can ever forget the blistering knock of 148 by MS Dhoni against the archrivals. Rohit Sharma also scored his maiden century as a test opener against South Africa. During an ODI against West Indies in October 2018, Vizag witnessed the historic moment of Virat Kohli surpassing the 10,000-run mark.
A total of 17 international centuries were scored at this ground, with Virat Kohli scoring 3 ODI centuries and one test ton. The only double ton here was scored by Mayank Agarwal in a test against South Africa in October 2019. Vizag cricket stadium witnessed three test 5-wicket hauls and only one in the 10 ODIs played. While Ravichandran Ashwin accounts for two of them, Amit Mishra bagged the only ODI 5W haul.
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