Raipur: The Shaheed Virnarayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur is hosting the first-ever one-day international match on Saturday being played between India and New Zealand. The match is the second of the three ODIs between the two teams. The third ODI is to be played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore of Madhya Pradesh. Back in Raipur, it is for the first time an international cricket match going to be played at the Shaheed Virnarayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur. Understandably, there is a lot of enthusiasm both among the fans as well as the State Cricket Association. The stadium was inaugurated in 2008.
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Many cricket matches have been organised on this ground, but not international ones. The Shaheed Virnarayan Singh International Cricket Stadium is the third largest ground in the country. In 2013, two IPL matches were played at the Shaheed Virnarayan Singh ground in Raipur. Apart from this, in 2015 and 2016, IPL and domestic Ranji Trophy matches were also played here besides the Mushtaq Ali trophy and T20 Challenger Trophy matches.
The first match was played in 2010 at Raipur International Cricket Stadium or Shaheed Virnarayan Singh International Cricket Stadium. The Canadian team had come here to play a practice match with the Chhattisgarh state team. Besides, the Road Safety World Cricket Series match was played in October 2022 in Raipur.
India Legends won the series as they defeated Sri Lanka by 33 runs. Raipur International Cricket Stadium is the third largest cricket stadium in the country after Narendra Modi Stadium, Gujarat (1.10 lakh capacity), and Edens Garden, Kolkata (68,000). It is considered to be one of the most beautiful cricket stadiums in the country, with state-of-the-art facilities available for players and fans. This stadium has a seating capacity of 65,000 spectators.
