Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium

The Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium is located at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh and is also known as the Andhra Cricket Association/Visakhapatnam Cricket Association Ground. The ground is located in picturesque settings among hills that make watching a game at this ground an enjoyable experience. The ground got off to an excellent start in its international journey by hosting the second match in the 2005 series between India and Pakistan. However, on evidence of that game, it can be safely said that it has got one of the best batting surfaces in India. The pitch for that game was pretty hard and thus offered true bounce.

 

This also meant that the batsmen were able to play through the line. This was well documented by Mahendra Singh Dhoni who at that stage was a new entrant to the Indian team. He played really well and scored a swashbuckling 148 against a Pakistan attack that featured the likes of Sami, Rana Naved, Razzaq and Afridi. The stadium, at present, has a capacity of 25 thousand people but the authorities are planning to take it to 36 thousand – this will be done by adding several tiers to the existing stands. However, these changes could have a detrimental effect on the ground.

 

It is assumed that with these changes, the views of the surrounding hills can be blocked and the lovely breeze that blows into the ground thanks to the lower stands will be a thing of the past. This breeze is an important part of the ground’s atmosphere as it gives it a pleasant feel as compared to the cauldron-like environment in most of the other grounds across the country. The stadium was established in 2003 and is equipped with floodlights. Its ends are named DV Subba Rao End and Vizzy End. The home team of this stadium in Indian domestic cricket is Andhra Pradesh and its curator is K Nagamalliah. Till date India has played 4 games over here and won all of them, which makes it one of the national team’s happier hunting grounds.

 

In these games its opponents were Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia and West Indies. The match against the Windies on December 2, 2011 remains the last international game played at this ground. The highest score by a team on this ground belongs to India who knocked off 356/9 in the game against Pakistan. Virat Kohli with 235 runs from 2 matches holds the record for maximum runs at this ground and Ashish Nehra leads the wickets tally with 6 wickets from 2 matches.