Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium

The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, is an international cricket stadium in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is owned and operated by Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). It is the home ground of Hyderabad cricket team and Hyderabad women's cricket team. Located in the eastern suburb of Uppal, it has a Seating capacity of 55,000 and extends across 15 acres of land. It serves as the home ground IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad. As of 18 October 2023, it has hosted 5 Tests, 10 ODIs, and 3 T20Is. The stadium hosted the first, the final game of 2017 IPL edition, and the final of 2019 IPL. The stadium hosted its first ICC event in October 2023 during the 2023 Cricket World Cup. It is renamed after the former prime minister of India Rajiv Gandhi. History Before the stadium was built, HCA hosted domestic and international matches at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in the Fateh Maidan sports complex at Basheerbagh in central Hyderabad. The ground's proprietor was the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh state (Now Sports Authority of Telangana State) due to which HCA had limited authority, control over that ground, due to which it decided to built their own stadium. In 2003, the proposal for a new stadium was submitted by HCA to the government of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, then headed by N. Chandrababu Naidu. The proposal was quickly cleared and HCA was allocated a budget for the same. The government also identified a large piece of land suitable for the project at Uppal.