Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, commonly known as Ekana Cricket Stadium, is an international cricket stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. With a seating capacity of around 50,000, it ranks among the largest cricket stadiums in the country. “Ekana” derives from a Sanskrit word meaning “unity.”
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Quick Facts
| Location | Ekana Sportz City, Gomti Nagar Extension, Lucknow |
| Commissioned | 2014; completed 2017 |
| Capacity | 50,000 |
| Owner | Public-private partnership between Uttar Pradesh government and Ekana Sportz City |
| Home team(s) | Uttar Pradesh men’s and women’s teams, Lucknow Super Giants and UP Warriorz (IPL/WPL) |
| First international match | 6 November 2018, T20I, India vs West Indies |
| Named after | Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (renamed 2018) |
History
The project to build a world-class cricket stadium in Lucknow was commissioned in 2014 under then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, developed through a public-private partnership between the Uttar Pradesh government and Ekana Sportz City. As part of the agreement, the government granted a 35-year lease of 71 acres for the stadium itself (running through 2052), along with an additional 66 acres on a 99-year lease for surrounding real-estate development. The project cost around ₹360 crore.
Before this stadium was built, international cricket in Lucknow was played at the K. D. Singh Babu Stadium, which last hosted a Test in January 1994. The Ekana Stadium was originally slated to host an India–New Zealand ODI in October 2017, but the fixture was shifted to Kanpur after the venue was deemed incomplete. It finally hosted its first international match — a T20I between India and West Indies — on 6 November 2018, becoming the 52nd Indian venue to host international cricket. In that match, Rohit Sharma became the first cricketer to score four centuries in T20I cricket.
The stadium was renamed in honour of India’s 10th Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in 2018. In 2019, the Afghanistan cricket team was granted use of the venue as one of its home bases in India, having previously used grounds in Dehradun and Greater Noida.
Notable Events
- 2019 – Ekana hosts its first ODI and, later that year, its first Test match, both involving Afghanistan.
- 2023 Cricket World Cup – The stadium hosted five matches of the tournament.
- 2018 – Rohit Sharma’s four-T20I-century milestone reached during the venue’s international debut.
Records
- Notable feature: The stadium has the longest straight boundaries of any cricket ground in India.
- Highest IPL total: 235/6, Kolkata Knight Riders.
- Lowest IPL total: 108 all out, Lucknow Super Giants (home side).
- Most IPL runs at the venue: KL Rahul.
- Most IPL wickets at the venue: Ravi Bishnoi.
Facilities
The venue includes two large 1,800-square-foot screens, 40 VIP boxes, eight corporate lounges, nine pitches, and one of the more advanced drainage systems among Indian stadiums.
Access
Ekana Cricket Stadium is located in Gomti Nagar Extension, on Lucknow’s Amar Shaheed Path, and is well connected to the rest of the city by road.
Related Stadiums
- Green Park, Kanpur — Uttar Pradesh’s other major international cricket ground.
- Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad — like Ekana, a large modern stadium built for global events.
- Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, Mullanpur — a comparably new North Zone IPL venue.
- JSCA Stadium, Ranchi — another newer Indian venue tied to a star India cricketer’s home city.
