International cricket returns to Gwalior after 14 years, at a brand new venue
The game is moving from the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, the site of many memorable matches, to the shiny new Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium
Daya Sagar05-Oct-2024When an international cricket match was last held in Gwalior, Sachin Tendulkar scored the first double-century in men’s ODIs. Fourteen years after that historic game, international cricket is set to return to the Madhya Pradesh city.However, cricket is not back at the historic Captain Roop Singh Stadium but at the newly built Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, where the first T20I between India and Bangladesh will be played on Sunday. The Captain Roop Singh Stadium, though, is inextricably linked to cricket in the city.When you arrive at the old stadium, located near the railway station in the heart of the city, it feels like you have arrived at a single-screen cinema hall in a small town. Built in the shape of a hexagon, it doesn’t look like a cricket stadium from the outside. There are no cricket-related hoardings, no floodlight towers visible from a distance.Related
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Once inside, there is a gallery that leads you past some offices and the scorecard featuring the details of Tendulkar’s historic knock. With the exception of some VVIP seats towards the pavilion end, all the seats – the stadium has a capacity of around 20,000 – are in the form of cement steps. At both ends stand small floodlights, erected in the lead-up to the 1996 World Cup.Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) scorer Sunil Gupta’s eyes light up as he recalls Tendulkar’s double-century. According to him, it feels like yesterday, when Tendulkar played Charl Langeveldt past point and achieved an “impossible historical feat”.”We couldn’t believe we had seen something that was almost impossible in one-day cricket at that time,” Gupta says. “This match was accidentally moved from Kanpur to Gwalior 20 days earlier. Our pitch and ground were ready, but international cricket requires a lot more preparation. Our association completed these preparations in a very short time and what happened after that, the whole world knows it now.”Gupta, who is a believer in destiny, says, “That is why it has been said that on every grain is written the name of the one who eats it. We were destined to watch the double-century of [God] and when he waved his helmet and bat in the air, many people, including me, had tears in their eyes. These were tears of joy.”The entrance to the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior•Daya Sagar/ESPNcricinfoThe stadium has played host to many other memorable ODIs too, including the India-West Indies match in the 1996 World Cup, the fourth India-Pakistan ODI in 2007, India’s win against Australia in the TVS Cup months after their 2003 World Cup final defeat to the same opposition, Kenya’s first win over India in an international match, and two ODIs against England in 1993 on consecutive days. The 1997 Ranji Trophy final was also held in this stadium, the only day-night Ranji Trophy final till date.”At times, this stadium has come in handy for the BCCI during crises,” Gupta says. “When the first India-England ODI was cancelled in Ahmedabad due to riots in 1993, two ODIs were held on this ground on two consecutive days. This is the only ground in the India where ODI matches have been held on consecutive days.”Apart from this, in 2010, when the preparations were not deemed to be complete in Kanpur, we were given an ODI match in a hurry. At the same time, when we did not have that much funds for the 1996 World Cup, we made smaller floodlights on three stands instead of four, so that day-night matches could be organised.”The stadium once hosted ODIs regularly, with a match every two or three years in the 1990s and 2000s. But as the facilities became dated, this stadium, which has hosted 12 ODIs, gradually faded into the background.The stadium belongs to the Gwalior Municipal Corporation, and was leased by the Gwalior Division Cricket Association (GDCA) for 25 years; the lease ends in 2025. So the MPCA decided to build its own stadium in Gwalior. Named after former BCCI president Madhavrao Scindia, plans for the new stadium were laid out in 2011 and it was completed in 2024 and inaugurated by BCCI secretary Jay Shah and former India captain Kapil Dev.Gwalior scorer Sunil Gupta with the scorecard from Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI double-century•Daya Sagar/ESPNcricinfoLocated on the outskirts of Gwalior, on around 30 acres of land near the Mumbai-Agra highway bypass, surrounded by the hills of Chambal, the new stadium has all the modern frills: towering floodlights, the latest drainage system, indoor-training facilities, plush dressing rooms, a separate practice ground, nine cricket pitches, a gym equipped with new machines, a TV broadcast control room, a closed and air-conditioned media centre, and PVC seats for spectators.But like the new stadium in Mullanpur in Punjab, the stadium is still open, with canopies for the stands to be installed only later. At present, the capacity is 30,000, with an increase to 50,000 planned by the MPCA. This is why there are exposed pillars on both sides of the square boundary – to allow for another round of construction later on.India vs Bangladesh will be the first top-level match at this stadium – not a single domestic match has been held here yet. In June this year, however, the Madhya Pradesh Premier League was held here and, in a total of 12 matches, a lot of runs were scored.How many runs are scored on Sunday remain to be seen, but off the field security will be tight. Prohibitory orders – aka Section 163 – have been imposed in the city, which means that more than five people cannot gather and hold any demonstration. The orders were passed after right-wing organisations called for a boycott of this match in the wake of media reports of violence on Hindus in Bangladesh. There had been similar calls for a boycott of the Kanpur Test.The effects of these developments are visible in the preparations for the match. The road to the stadium, which is located around 8km from the city, has already been blocked by a barricade at about the 4km mark, with only those working inside the stadium and the media allowed access to the stadium. Section 163 will remain in place even after the end of the match, until October 7, when both teams leave for Delhi for the second match of the series.For now, though, Gupta is happy that the cricket is back, after a 14-year “exile” from his city. He is ready to score another historic match in the annals of Gwalior cricket.