Eden Gardens

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The origins of Eden Gardens remain uncertain, though popular culture credits Babu Rajchandra Das, zamindar of Janbazar and husband of Rani Rashmoni. He gifted his garden, Marh Bagan, to Lord Auckland and his sister Emily Eden in gratitude for saving his daughter from a fatal disease; the park was renamed 'Eden Gardens' in 1841 after previously being called 'Auckland Circus Gardens'. The cricket grounds were built between Babughat and Fort William. In January 2017, stands were named after local legends Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy, as well as administrators BN Dutt and Jagmohan Dalmiya. By April 2017, four stands honored Indian soldiers: Colonel Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair, Havildar Hangpan Dada, Lieutenant Colonel Dhan Singh Thapa, and Subedar Joginder Singh Sahnan. In 2024, a stand was dedicated to Jhulan Goswami, unveiled on 22 January 2025.

In Their Own Story

The stadium has witnessed moments that defined cricket history. On 16 August 1980, a stampede during a Mohun Bagan-East Bengal Calcutta Football League match tragically claimed 16 lives. In 1996, crowd disturbances following an Indian batting collapse led to the semi-final being called off, with Sri Lanka awarded the win. During the 2000/01 Border–Gavaskar Trophy Second Test, V.V.S. Laxman scored 281 against Australia, the highest score at the ground, while Harbhajan Singh became the first Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly described the roar of the crowd during India's victory over Australia in that match as the loudest he had ever heard. In 2016, Kapil Dev became the first person to ring a new bell added to start day play for Tests and matches for ODIs and T20Is.

Reader's Guide

Located in the B. B. D. Bagh area near the State Secretariat and opposite the Calcutta High Court, Eden Gardens is the headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal. It hosts the Bengal cricket team and the Kolkata Knight Riders. The venue underwent significant renovation for the 2011 Cricket World Cup by a consortium including Burt Hill Architects (now INI Design Studio) and VMS architecture firms. This project reduced seating capacity from around 94,000 to approximately 68,000 but added new clubhouses, upgraded exterior walls with metal skin cladding, and improved amenities. Due to unsafe conditions from incomplete renovations, the ICC moved an India vs England match scheduled for 27 February 2011 to Bengaluru. The stadium hosted three World Cup matches in March 2011, including a Kenya vs Zimbabwe game that drew only 15 ticket-purchasing spectators.

Did You Know?

• Eden Gardens witnessed a record crowd of 110,564 during the 1996 India vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup Semi Final.
• In March 2011, a match between Kenya and Zimbabwe saw only 15 spectators buy tickets, the lowest in the stadium's recorded history.
• The first day/night match at the venue was the 1993 Hero Cup semi-final featuring India and South Africa.
• In September 2016, Kapil Dev became the first person to ring a bell added to the stadium to start test matches.
• Eden Gardens hosted its first Test match in 1934 between England and India.