MCA Stadium
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium is a cricket stadium situated in Pune, Maharashtra, India It is located beside Pune Mumbai expressway in Pune district
It is the home venue of the Maharashtra cricket team and is the headquarters of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA). This stadium is situated on the outskirts of city limit of Pune in Gahunje village Before existence of this arena, Nehru Stadium of downtown Pune was the home ground of Maharashtra Cricket team and venue for international matches organised by MCA
This arena is designed by Michael Hopkins. It is designed like a deep bowl It has floodlights to organise contests at night.
Hopkins Architects of London was commissioned to design a new 37,000-seat stadium in Pune. This stadium’s final phase of construction is still yet to complete.
In 2012, it was inaugurated by then BCCI and ICC president Sharad Pawar In April 2012, the first match was played between Kings XI Punjab and Pune Warriors in April 2012. The first Twenty20 International match at the stadium was played between India and England in December 2012. The first Test match at the venue was played between India and Australia in February 2017.
History
The MCA’s decision to build a new Cricket stadium in Pune stemmed from a dispute with the Pune Municipal Corporation,[citation nee regarding ticket allocations for Nehru Stadium. This conflict came to a head when an international match between India and Sri Lanka was moved to Kolkata, with the MCA stating they were in no position to host the match. Following this, the MCA decided a new stadium was needed.[citation nee
The groundbreaking ceremony was performed on the construction site on 21 October 2007 by the BCCI president Sharad Pawar. MCA granted the contract to construct the first phase of the construction to M/S Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd company in November 2009. The construction work started on 14 November 2007.
MCA Pune was inaugurated by the then ICC President and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on 1 April 2012.
In 2013, the Indian company Sahara India Pariwar bought the naming rights and the stadium was renamed the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium. However, the name was changed back to the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium because Sahara paid only a part of the Rs. 200 crore that it had promised when acquiring the rights.
The major part of the construction is completed but the final phase of the construction is still yet to complete. This arena is designed by British architect Sir Michael Hopkins, who credited to designed Lord’s cricket ground’s mount stand and Ages bowl Stadium of Southampton in England.
In November 2015, the stadium was selected as one of the six new Test venues along with Holkar Stadium, JSCA International Stadium Complex, Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium and Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in India.
The stadium has been home ground for Pune Warriors India, Punjab Kings, Rising Pune Supergiant and Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
Construction
The stadium was designed by British architecture company, Hopkins Architects. Its original completion date was November 2010 at a cost of Rs 1.50 billion, covering an area of 35 acres (140,000 m2). However, the stadium was not ready until 2012. As a result, the stadium was not able to host ICC Cricket World Cup matches as originally intended.[citation nee
The arena is located close to the Mumbai–Pune Expressway, just outside the city of Pune, with views of the surrounding mountains.[citation nee
The stadium and the seating arrangement were designed in such a way that an unobstructed view is assured from each location.[citation nee
The most important feature of this stadium is its rainwater drainage system. Often, matches are abandoned due to heavy downpour. To overcome this problem, MCA opted for a sand-based outfield developed departmentally with technical assistance from STRI Limited, UK. Due to this technology, even during heavy showers, water on the outfield drains out fast, making it ready for play again just in few minutes.
Notable events
In 2015 IPL, Punjab Kings decided to move out of Mohali due to lukewarm spectator response at their primary home ground. Following the decision three home games were played at the MCA Stadium.
In 2018 IPL, due to members of a few fringe political parties staging protests outside the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai as well as several parts of Chennai demanding the IPL matches to be moved out of the city until the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) was set up as directed by the honourable Supreme Court of India.[clarification nee Despite tight security for the match against KKR, the Chennai police expressed their inability in ensuring enough personnel at the venue for the smooth conduct of the remaining games. MCA Stadium in Pune was selected to host the remaining six home games of Chennai Super Kings.
On 28 March 2021, MCA Stadium completed its 50th competitive match milestone during the India vs England 3rd ODI Match.
