Delhi's Kotla ground has staged cricket records on fourteenth-century soil
Anil Kumble took all ten wickets in a Test innings here in 1999, only the second bowler ever to do it. The Delhi ground, founded in 1883 as Feroz Shah Kotla, sits on land that belonged to a city founded by a sultan in 1354, beside the ruins of his fortress.
India's second-oldest working international venue after Kolkata's Eden Gardens, the stadium belongs to the Delhi and District Cricket Association and takes its original name from the nearby Kotla fort of Feroz Shah Tughlaq, whose city of Ferozabad included a surviving Jami Masjid. After the former association president and finance minister Arun Jaitley died on 24 August 2019, the stadium was renamed for him on 12 September, though the playing field itself kept the old Kotla name and the former captain Bishan Singh Bedi objected to the change.
Test cricket began here on 10 November 1948, against the West Indies, who in 1959 posted the ground's highest total of 644 for 8. Milestones pile up: Geoff Boycott passed Garry Sobers's world aggregate in 1981, Sunil Gavaskar equalled Don Bradman's 29 centuries in 1983, and Sachin Tendulkar overtook Gavaskar with his 35th in December 2005. Virat Kohli's 243 against Sri Lanka in 2017 is the best individual score, and Kumble leads the wicket takers with 58.
Not every day went smoothly. An India versus Sri Lanka one-dayer in December 2009 was abandoned because the pitch was unfit, and the ICC barred the ground for a year. During a 2017 Test, Delhi smog halted play as Sri Lankan fielders put on masks, and both teams reportedly kept oxygen cylinders in their dressing rooms.
The venue has hosted World Cup games in 1987, 1996, 2011 and 2023, when South Africa piled up 428 for 5 against Sri Lanka. It staged the 1,000th men's T20 international in November 2019, which Bangladesh won for their first victory over India in the format, and it has been home to the Delhi Capitals franchise since 2008.
Source: Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium
