Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, abbreviated as the HPCA Stadium, is a picturesque cricket stadium located in the city of Dharamshala District Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, India. The town of Dharamsala is best known internationally as the home of the Dalai Lama of Tibet.
The stadium has hosted 1 Test, 3 ODIs and 8 T20Is till date.
Video Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium
Location and history
The stadium served as the home ground for the Himachal Pradesh cricket team for Ranji Trophy matches and other domestic matches. The stadium also hosted some IPL matches as a home stadium for Kings XI Punjab.
The picturesque venue is unique in India as it is situated at an altitude of 1,457 m above the sea level and has the snow-capped Himalayan mountains in the background. Getting to Dharamsala from the nearest airport Is Kangra Airport, which is about 8 kilometres away through the hilly terrain and the harsh winters, during which it rains and snows are some of the deterrents in organizing regular matches.
Dav Whatmore, the former Director of the National Cricket Academy in India had recommended during his tenure that the stadium is suitable for hosting international cricket matches. The first international team who played in this ground was the Pakistani cricket team, when they played a warm-up match against an India A side in 2005.
The first One Day International (ODI) at this stadium was played between India and England on 27 January 2013. England won the match by 7 wickets. The first Test at this stadium was played between India and Australia from 25-29 March 2017.
In November 2015, the HPCA stadium was selected as one of the six new Test match venues in India along with the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, JSCA International Stadium Complex, Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Holkar Stadium and Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
ACC Centre of Excellence
In December 2015, Asian Cricket Council decided to set up Centre of Excellence at Dharamshala.
2016 ICC World Twenty20
On 21 July 2015, the BCCI announced the names of the eight cities which would be hosting matches during the 2016 ICC World Twenty20. Dharamshala was announced as one of the eight venues for the event. On 11 December 2015, ICC announced the fixtures of the event where the HPCA Stadium was scheduled to host all the first round Group A matches and a single Super 10 Group 2 match. Originally the marquee India vs Pakistan match was scheduled to be hosted by this venue. Due to security concerns for the Pakistani team, the match was moved to Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Maps Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium
See also
- List of international cricket centuries on Indian cricket grounds
- List of international cricket five-wicket hauls on Indian cricket grounds
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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