Eden Garden

Eden garden is one of the oldest cricket stadiums in India. It is the residence of the Bengal cricket. Besides domestic matches, Eden carried lots of golden memories of international cricket. Eden garden hosted some   Popular matches like ODI, test, cricket WorldCup, and t 20 matches of Indian national cricket team. The present sit capacity of this ground is 80,000. 

It is the second-largest stadium in India, and the third-largest cricket stadium in the world after Melbourne Cricket Ground. Eden garden is the home ground of popular IPL cricket team Knight Riders. This stadium was first built in India for playing cricket. That’s why this ground is known as “Mecca of Indian cricket”. According to legend,  Eden garden is the second-best cricket ground after Lods.

Eden garden referred to India’s home of cricket. This heritage landmark established almost  156 years ago. This stadium ( Spread almost 50-acre land.  

History of this ground 

It is a heritage site in the City of joy. There is a long history behind this stadium. It is the first stadium built in India for cricket. In early age,  there was a small park named Eden. It was one of the oldest parks in Kolkata. From the name of that park, the stadium name was given. The ancient name of this place is the Auckland Circus Garden.  Auckland was the governor-general of India. Auckland got this garden as a gift from Babu Rajchandra das.

 Babu Rajchandra Das was then landlord (zamindar) of Calcutta. Once Auckland Eden and his sister Emily Eden helped Babu Rajchandra das to save his daughters’ life from fatal diseases. 

From then the garden name changed into Eden Garden from Maar Bagan. “Eden” was the family name of Auckland,  former governor-general of India. 

Nowadays,  the owner of this ground is the Indian Army. But this ground is fully maintained by the cricket association board of Bengal (CAB).  So, CAB needs to take permission from the Indian Army before making any decision about the Eden garden. CAB pays rent for the ground to the Indian Army. In 1864, lord Auckland gifted this ground to the Calcutta cricket club (CCC). After independence CCC transferred it to the government of India. Thereafter,  the defense ministry of India takes the responsibilities of this ground, adjoining surrounding land including Fort William. 

From the time of establishment,  this ground has been renovated many times. Let’s talk about the major up-gradation of this historical landmark. 

Renovation in 1987:

In the year 1987, authority prepared and decorated this ground for the world cup. They increased the seating capacity from 40000 to 94000. But in a government report, it claimed that the crowd density of this year was 100,000. some extra features were added in this renovation walk. By this work stadium updated with a press box,  television infrastructure, ground quality, etc. The roof of the stadium expanded throughout this project. 

Renovation in 2011: 

Again in 2011, the venue of the world cup was Eden garden,  Kolkata. The ICC board led the whole work at this time. The whole look of the stadium changed; and some important things like the exterior wall,  clubhouse, and player’s room were updated. The sitting capacity was improved at 80000+ at this time.

Bell of the Eden Garden:

There is a huge bell inside the stadium. In the year 2016, this bell installed. Through the ring of this bell,  the match of Eden began. It represents the heredity of the city of joy. Kapil Dev is the first person who rings this bell through the India & New Zealand test match,  2016. 

Stands of Eden garden  : 

In the recent upgrade,  the authority named some stands (visitors’ gallery)  after renowned army men and cricketers. There are two ends in this ground; pavilion end and high court end. 

On 22 January 2017, a stand of Eden garden was named after Saurav Ganguli. He was the former captain of the Indian cricket team. Saurav Ganguly (Dada)  is the present president of BCCI (2019-Incumbent).

The golden moment of Eden garden. 

How to reach Eden garden 

Eden garden is situated in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. There are multiple ways to reach the Eden garden. Firstly,  you can reach here by train. One can take any train for Dumdum from Sealdah or Howrah railway station. From Dumdum you have to take the metro to reach Eden Garden Metro Station. Otherwise,  you can directly reach B. B. D Bag or Eden garden Railway Station by princep ghat or Majerhat local. From the Railway Station, the ground is almost 5 min in a walk. 

Secondly, you can follow the bus Route. Transport authority operates an available number of buses for Eden garden and surrounding areas. You can easily find a bus from the Howrah bus stand. Generally, the common bus number for this route are 7A,  12A, 12B, 30, 30A, 30B, 30C

Thirdly,  You can easily book an Ola or Uber from anywhere in this city (Kolkata).  That can smoothly drop you at your destination. 

Moments of Eden garden

• Great footballer Pele played in this ground in 1977. The match was between New York Cosmo & Mohun Bagan. 
• On 16 th August 1980, 16 football fans died due to a stampede.  A huge crowd gathered here for the Mohun Bagan & East Bengal Match. 
• Eden garden hosted the 1987 cricket world cup.  It is the first time that a world cup tournament has occurred outside of England. And Australia first won the world cup by defeating England,  on this ground. 
• In 1981, Kapil Dev took a hat trick against Sri Lanka. 
• In Eden’s garden,  Rohit sarma created the highest individual score. 

Significance of Eden Garden

Eden garden carried some precious moments about crickets and football both.It is a heritage site of kolkata. Many talented cricketers from india  and abroad explore their talent in this ground. Throughout one and a half years, this stadium hosted lots of national or international events, along with domestic cricket. Let’s see the total matched occared in this stadium.

• Total Test matches: 41 
• ODI matches: 30
• T20I matches : 7