Venue-check: India have not lost to England in Ahmedabad

The rebuilt stadium will host third and fourth Tests of the upcoming four-match series against England. The third match will a day-night affair - India's only third - and will start on February 24 while the fourth will begin on March 4.

In the last encounter between the two teams in 2012, India had registered a nine-wicket win against an England team led by Alastair Cook. Batting first, Cheteshwar Pujara had scored a brilliant 206 not out and Virender Sehwag had slammed a superb 117 that helped India declare their innings at 521/8 wickets.

In reply, England were bowled out for a mere 191 as left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha registered a five-wicket haul while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked three wickets.

Following on, England made 406 in their second innings, riding on a 196-run knock from captain Cook and 91 from Matt Prior. Ojha again emerged as the pick of the bowlers, scalping four wickets, while Umesh picked three.

India chased down the 77-run target, losing Sehwag, while Pujara and Kohli remained unbeaten on 41 and 14 respectively.

Overall, India have played 12 Test matches against all comers in Ahmedabad, and have registered four wins, lost two matches and drew six. The two losses came against the West Indies in 1983 and against South Africa in 2008.

The stadium, which was constructed in 1982, began hosting international cricket a year later. A couple of years ago the stadium's renovation started and it was completed last year. It is now the largest cricket stadium in the world with a seating capacity of 110,000.

The first Test of the upcoming series between India and England will be played from February 5-9 while the second match is from February 13-17. Both matches will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

--IANS aak/qma

( 355 Words)

2021-01-26-19:34:03 (IANS)