India’s leading sporting grounds

Venues are the altars of sporting events, especially in India, where sports like cricket and football are celebrated almost like festivals. The sports stadiums in India have been witnesses to historic victories, thrilling matches, sweats and tears, and stellar records of brilliant athletes. There are innumerable stadiums in India. However, few of them stand apart for their own unique reasons. The leading football stadiums are Saltlake Stadium in Kolkata (1984) with a three-tier configuration and EMS Stadium in Kerala (1977), the home to the I-league side Kerala FC. The popular cricket stadiums include Eden Gardens in Kolkata (oldest cricket stadium), Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi (batsman’s paradise), Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Chennai and Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad (largest cricket arena). Multi-purpose stadiums of India are Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi (built for 1982 Asian games), Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, and DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. The motor-racing circuit named Buddh International is in Noida that has made a definite name for itself.