/betbarter/media/agency_attachments/3YXcMKaocLoKtpo5Mw2o.png)
/betbarter/media/media_files/Qwu3VieH5Yjt4DGHuc8E.png)
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at Eden Gardens (File Photo, Twitter)
In its rich history of 159 years, which is more than a century, the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in the Indian city of Kolkata also has a glorious history of some historic milestones in the great game of cricket. There were times when this remarkable venue had a capacity of almost 1,00,000 audience, which has now been reduced to 66,000 after the renovation of the stadium.
Despite this, the craze of cricket never got reduced at this beautiful venue in India’s ‘city of joy’ Kolkata. India have also created some great memories at this great venue from the decades of the 80s or 90s to the modern times as well.
On Saturday, November 5, the ground witnessed another historic moment to get real in its premises, and it was the unforgettable 49th ODI century of the former Indian skipper and the modern-day batting great, Virat Kohli, who equalled the world record 49 ODI centuries which was to the name of former legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar.
With said that, here we’ll recall the five historic moments at this historic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata.
Anil Kumble’s 6/12 Bowling performance, 1992
The hosts India were locking horns with the West Indies in the final of the CAB Folden Jubilee Tournament (Hero Cup) at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on November 27, 1993. The Caribbean skipper Richie Richardson won the flip of the coin and asked Team India to bat first. Batting first, India posted a total of 225 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the allotted 50 overs courtesy of Vinod Kambli’s 68-run knock, alongside some other crucial contributions.
While defending the target, India got an outstanding performance from the star leg spinner Anil Kumble who scalped 6 wickets just at the cost of 12 runs in 6.1 overs. On the back of his special performance, India bundled out West Indies on 123 runs and won the final of the Jubilee Cup by 102 runs to lift the title.
VVS Laxman’s historic 281-run knock against Australia, 2001
India were struggling and playing the follow-on after getting bundling out on 171 runs in the first innings of the second Test of the three-match Test series. But something historic was yet to happen at the Eden Gardens in India’s second innings when VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid stitched a historic partnership of 376 runs for the fifth wicket.
In this partnership, VVS Laxman played a remarkable knock of his life, hitting 281 runs to help set a big target of 384 runs for the mighty Australia. Laxman’s 281-run knock was accompanied by Rahul Dravid’s much-needed 180-run knock. Later, in a miraculous turnaround of things, India won this match by a big margin of 171 runs despite playing a follow-on.
Harbhajan Singh’s hat-trick against Australia, 2001
It was the same Test match, in which VVS Laxman played a 281-run knock; alongside Laxman’s sensational knock, there was also an absolute bowling masterclass in this Kolkata Test, which came from the then-young off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Earlier in the first innings of the match, when Australia were heading towards a big total, Harbhajan Singh broke their momentum by claiming an unbelievable hat-trick which made from 252 runs for the loss of 4 wickets to 252 runs for the loss of 7 wickets just in a course of three balls in the 72nd over of the innings. Harbhajan Singh picked the wickets Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, and Shane Warne to give a shaky blow to the Aussies.
Rohit Sharma’s 264 runs against Sri Lanka, 2014
India and Sri Lanka locked horns in the fourth ODI of the five-match series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 13, 2014, which is almost 9 years back. The hosts skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first, the star Indian opener Rohit Sharma had completely different plans in his mind.
Who knew that the lifeline given by Sri Lanka to Rohit Sharma just on his score of 4 runs would go on to cost them with a historic individual knock by India’s hitman? Rohit didn’t look back after he was given the first lifeline. He went on to smash the historic and swashbuckling knock of 264 runs off just 173 runs, hitting 33 fours and 9 massive sixes; it is still the highest individual score in the 52-year-long history of ODI cricket.
On the back of Rohit’s batting carnage, India comfortably won that Kolkata ODI by 153 runs to take a lead of 4-0 in the five-match ODI series.
Virat Kohli’s 49th ODI century against South Africa, ODI World Cup 2023,
Another glorious page in the illustrious history of Eden Gardens was added most recently in the 37th match of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 between India and South Africa. It was none other than the highly anticipated 49th ODI century of the former Indian skipper and modern-day batting great, Virat Kohli.
The more special thing about this historic moment was that it came on the 35th birthday of India’s modern master. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 101 runs and won the ‘Player of the Match award after India registered a mammoth win by 243 runs over South Africa.