Ekana Stadium: A Modern Marvel in the City of Nawabs

A huge credit goes to the government and sports authorities for nurturing talented cricketers with the country. Time and again, they have been spending a great sum of money in developing the right infrastructure in various parts of the country. New stadiums are being built, fresh academies have started and right guidance is being provided to inculcate a sporting culture within the youth of the country. One such stadium that was made functional in 2017 and which has nurtured cricket in the City of Nawabs is Ekana Stadium, also known as Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium. It was named after the 10th Prime Minister of India- Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 

Ekana Stadium is the fifth largest stadium of India and has a seating capacity of 50,000 people. It is owned and operated by Ekana Sportz City. In August 2019, BCCI awarded this venue to Afghanistan National Cricket Team as their third home venue in India after Dehradun and Greater Noida. 

The two end names here are North End and South End. The ground is the home ground for the UPCA state team (both men and women), UP Warriorz in WPL and Lucknow Supergiants in IPL.

First matches at Ekana Stadium 

• First ODI: 6 November, 2019 between Afghanistan vs West Indies
• First T20I: 6 November, 2018 between India and West Indies
• First women’s match: 7 March, 2021 between India and South Africa 
• Only test: 27-29 November 2019 between Afghanistan and West Indies 

Pitch report and ground conditions at Ekana Stadium 

Two pitches with distinctive nature have been constructed at Ekana Stadium. One is black soil wicket that tends to remain slow and assist spinners. And the other is a red soil wicket that is relatively more batting friendly and gives more advantage to batsmen. The average score in a T20 game here ranges between 165 and 170. Teams prefer to bat first after winning the toss.

Outfield here is quick, the squarer boundary is 76 m long and the straighter boundary is 81 m long. 

Records and statistics at Ekana Stadium 

ODI records

Highest total: 311/7 by South Africa vs Australia 

Lowest total: 129 by England vs India

Most runs: Shai Hope: 229 runs

Highest score: Shai Hope: 109*(145)

Most sixes: Asghar Afghan: 3

Most wickets: Dilshan Madushanka: 7

Best bowling figures: Mohammad Shami: 7-2-22-4

Most dismissals: Ikram Alikhil: 4

Most catches: Temba Bavuma: 4

T20I records 

Highest total: 199/2 by India vs Sri Lanka

Lowest total: 99/8 by New Zealand vs India 

Most runs: Rohit Sharma: 155 runs

Most sixes: Rohit Sharma: 6

Most wickets: Kesrick Williams: 8

Best bowling figures: 4-0-11-5

Most dismissals: Denesh Ramdin: 5

Most catches: Rohit Sharma: 4

WPL and IPL at Ekana Stadium 

The 2025 edition of WPL will host four league matches at Ekana Stadium from 3rd March till 8th March. This will be the first time when a women’s franchise match will be played in Lucknow. However, plenty of IPL matches have been held here before. Since it is the home ground for LSG’s team, they get the crowd support roaring for them. The highest IPL score here has been 235, scored by KKR against the home team. In 2025 plenty of  matches will be played here and hopefully more records will be shattered!