Eden Gardens is a cricket ground in Kolkata, India. It is the home of the Bengal cricket team and the Indian Premier League's Kolkata Knight Riders, as well as being a Test and One Day International ground. It is the largest cricket stadium in India and is considered having the best cricket facility in the country. It is the highest capacity cricket ground in India.
The Eden Gardens is India's biggest cricket stadium, and one of the most famous cricket venues in the world. Established in 1864, Eden Gardens is expected to hold 82,000 people following renovations that are expected to be completed before the start of the 2011 World Cup; a capacity down from an estimated 86,961 before the upgrade. Prior to the 1987 World Cup, the capacity was said to be approximetely 120,000; however, no official figures have been recorded. Nevertheless, it will remain second biggest cricket stadium in the world, behind the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia and Eden Gardens is also the second largest stadium in India behind the Salt Lake Stadium also situated in Kolkata.
The stadium is located in the Dalhousie area of the city, near the State Secretariat and the High Court. The first recorded Test at the venue was held in 1934, and its first ODI in 1987. Sporting floodlights, bowlers deliver from the High Court End or the Pavilion End of a pitch under curator Probir Mukherjee. Eden Gardens is renowned for its large and vociferous crowds. It is said that "a cricketer's cricketing education is not complete till he has played in front of a packed Eden Gardens." The Club House of the stadium has been named as the B.C. Roy Club House, after former Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal Dr. B. C. Roy. The Headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal are also there at the Eden Gardens.