Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA), Feroz Shah Kotla ground,
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110002 (Phone: 011 2331 9323)
Also or formerly known as Willingdon Pavilion
Established 1883
End names Stadium End, Pavilion End
Home team(s) Delhi
Current local time 06:54, Mon Oct 13, 2008 (UTC +0530)
External links Weather
Established in 1883, the Feroz Shah Kotla - run by the politicised Delhi
District Cricket Association (DDCA) - is undergoing its latest facelift
- one that began over two years ago. Work has progressed so slowly that
the last one-dayer of the 2004-05 India-Pakistan series was nearly
played at another venue. Only a last-gasp push to complete the
construction - as well as political presure - resulted in a game here,
amid unfinished pillars shooting into the sky and stands where
construction work was concealed under tarpaulin. But the smallish ground
has witnessed a number of feats, most notably Anil Kumble's 10 in an
innings against Pakistan.
The Kotla staged its first Test in the 1948-49 season when the mighty
West Indies under John Goddard took on India for a five Test series and
the ground has produced some really good performances. In the 1952 Test
against Pakistan, Hemu Adhikari and Ghulam Ahmed were involved in a
record tenth wicket stand of 109 runs - a record that still stands. In
1965, S Venkataraghavan, in his debut series, demolished the New Zealand
line up with figures of 8 for 72 and 4 for 80. In 1969-70, Bedi and
Prasanna combined to spin India to a famous seven wicket win over
Australia, the duo picking 18 wickets between themselves. England's John
Lever had a memorable debut at the Kotla in 1976, when he notched up a
half-century and had match figures of 10 for 70. Five years later, Geoff
Boycott surpassed Gary Sobers' world record Test aggregate. In 1983-84,
Sunil Gavaskar scored his 29th century to equal Don Bradman's long
standing record for the highest number of hundreds in Test cricket.
(Rahul Bhatia)
