Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (abbreviated as the HPCA Stadium) is an international

cricket stadium One hundred and twenty-three grounds have hosted men's Test cricket since the first officially recognised Test match between Australia and England in Melbourne in March 1877. The grounds are listed in the order in which they were first used as ...

Dharamshala Dharamshala (, ; also spelled Dharamsala) is a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It serves as the winter capital of the state and the administrative headquarters of the Kangra district since 1855. The town also hosts the Tibeta ...

hill station of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

, India. The stadium is the home ground of

Himachal Pradesh cricket team The Himachal Pradesh cricket team is an Indian cricket team based in Himachal Pradesh. It has competed in the Ranji Trophy since the 1985–86 season. They have won their first domestic trophy, by winning the 2021–22 edition of Vijay Hazare T ...

Himachal Pradesh women's cricket team The Himachal Pradesh women's cricket team is a women's cricket team that represents the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh in domestic cricket tournaments. The team competes in the Women's Senior One Day Trophy and the Women's Senior T20 Trophy ...

and headquarters of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, the governing body of cricket in the state of Himachal Pradesh. It hosted 5 matches of the

2023 Cricket World Cup The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted from 5 October to 19 ...

, including New Zealand v India. However the stadium was accused of having a bad outfield and players played with the potential risk of injury.

Location and history

left, 400px, The snow-capped Himalayan mountains in the background Earlier, the BCCI and state government had the plan to make International Stadium in

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

. The location in Shimla proposed for this was Annadale. But despite every try the Army did not accept this, because Annadale is an Army Cantonment area and its ground serves as important strategic location for Army as well as for the ARTRAC Shimla. After the failure of this plan then it was shifted to Dharamshala, and then HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala was finally chosen. The stadium served as the home ground for the

for

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

matches and other domestic matches. The stadium also hosted some IPL matches as a home stadium for

Punjab Kings The Punjab Kings, also known as PBKS, formerly known as Kings XI Punjab, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in New Chandigarh, Punjab, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by Mohit Burm ...

. The picturesque venue is unique in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

as it is situated at an altitude of 1,457 m above sea level and has snow-capped Himalayan mountains in the background. Getting to Dharamsala from the nearby Kangra Airport, which is about 8 kilometres away through the hilly terrain and the harsh winters, during which it rains and snows, is a deterrent to organizing regular matches.

Dav Whatmore Davenell Frederick Whatmore (born 16 March 1954) is a Sri Lanka born Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. A right-handed batsman, Whatmore played seven Test cricket, Test matches for Australia national cricket team, Australia in 1979, ...

, the former Director of the

National Cricket Academy The National Cricket Academy (NCA) is a cricket facility of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Bengaluru, India, for the purpose of developing young cricketers who have been identified as having the potential to represent the I ...

in India had recommended during his tenure that the stadium is suitable for hosting international cricket matches. The first international team who played at this ground was the

Pakistani cricket team The Pakistan men's national cricket team represents Pakistan in international cricket. It is controlled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the governing body for cricket in Pakistan, which is a Full Member of the International Cricket Counc ...

, when they played a warm-up match against

India A The India A cricket team is a national cricket team representing second-tier cricket of India national cricket team. The matches played by India A receive first-class and List A classification. It is a developmental team, domestic players who ar ...

in 2005. The first

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) at this stadium was played between

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 27 January 2013. England won the match by 7 wickets. The first

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

at this stadium was played between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 25–29 March 2017, India won the match. In November 2015, the stadium was selected as one of the six new Test match venues in India along with the

Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium is an international cricket stadium in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It is owned and operated by the Maharashtra Cricket Association. It is the home ground of the Maharashtra cricket team and Maharashtra ...

, JSCA International Stadium Complex, Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium,

Holkar Stadium Holkar Cricket Stadium is located in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is owned and operated by Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association and serves as its headquarter. It is the home ground of Madhya Pradesh cricket team as well as MP women's team. ...

and Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. The venue has been used sporadically for IPL matches and due to its high altitude has a reputation for six hitting.

Adam Gilchrist Adam Craig Gilchrist (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer and List of Australia national cricket captains, captain of the Australia national cricket team. He was an attacking left-h ...

became the first player to score a century in the IPL at the HPCA stadium in 2011 against RCB, an innings that included a 122m six off

Charl Langeveldt Charl Kenneth Langeveldt (born 17 December 1974) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer who is currently a bowling coach with the Zimbabwe national cricket team. As a cricket player, he played all formats of the game. A right-arm ...

ACC Centre of Excellence

In December 2015,

Asian Cricket Council The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is a cricket organization which was established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport of Cricket in Asia. Subordinate to the International Cricket Council, the council is the continent's regional administrati ...

decided to set up Centre of Excellence at

2016 ICC World Twenty20

On 21 July 2015, the

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

announced the names of the eight cities which would be hosting matches during the

2016 ICC World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 International cricket tournament that was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edi ...

was announced as one of the eight venues for the event. On 11 December 2015, ICC announced the fixtures of the event where the HPCA Stadium was scheduled to host all the first round Group A matches and a single Super 10 Group 2 match. Originally the marquee India v Pakistan match was scheduled to be hosted by this venue. Due to security concerns for the Pakistani team, the match was moved to

Eden Gardens Eden Gardens is an international cricket stadium in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 68,000. ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

2023 ICC World Cup

ICC allocated 5 matches to the stadium, including New Zealand v India. However the Stadium was accused of bad outfield and players played with potential risk of being injured.

Records and statistics

List of centuries

Test Centuries

One Day Internationals

Twenty20 Internationals

List of five wicket hauls

Tests

References

{{Coord, 32.197672, 76.325997, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Cricket grounds in Himachal Pradesh Buildings and structures in Dharamshala Rugby union stadiums in India Test cricket grounds in India 2003 establishments in Himachal Pradesh