Rajkot (Gujarat): The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium, which was rechristened as Niranjan Shah Stadium on Wednesday, has hosted only two Test matches, in which India has won one game and drawn another fixture.
The Stadium hosted its first Test in 2016, when India took on England from November 9-13 and the match ended in a tame draw. The first Test of the series against England was played at the then SCA Stadium in which Moeen Ali was declared as the Player of the Match.
England posted a mammoth 537 on the board in the first innings, courtesy hundreds by Joe Root (124), Moeen Ali (117) and Ben Strokes (128). For India, 'local boy' Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with fine figures of 3 for 86.
India in reply scored 488 in their first essay as opener Murali Vijay (128) and Cheteshwar Pujara (124) scored centuries. All-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin scored 70. For England, Adil Rashid picked four wickets (4 for 114), while Moeen Ali (2 for 85) and Zafar Ansari (2 for 77) took two wickets each.
In the second innings, England post 260/3 declared as skipper Alastair Cook scored a stroke-filed 130 off 243 balls and Haseeb Hameed scored 182. Amit Mishra took two wickets (2 for 60) for India in the second essay while Ashwin bagged one wicket.
India ended at 172 for 6 in their second innings as the Test ended in a draw. Skipper Virat Kohli scored 49 while for the visitors Adil Rashid grabbed three wickets (3 for 64).
The second Test at the picturesque venue was played between India and West Indies from October 4-6, in which the hosts won by an innings and 272 runs. Debutant Prithvi Shaw, who slammed a hundred, was named as the Player of the Match.