The Largest Cricket Grounds In The World

Countries of the world that are the members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) includes 125 countries out of which 10 are full members, 38 associate members and 59 are the affiliate members. To name few of these countries, it includes Australia, England, and South Africa as the founding members. India, West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan, Zimbabwe later joined them, and the most recent member is Bangladesh. The game is popular among the citizen of these countries as many books are written on it, in many of these nations, amateurs also tried their hands on it, fan following is more than any other game and in some countries, it is considered as a religion.

Historic Games Held at the Largest Cricket Grounds

Most of the cricket grounds are known in the world for hosting historical games and many notable events related to them. Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia is the largest in the world with a seating capacity of 100,024. It is followed by Eden Gardens located in Kolkata in India, which has a seating capacity of 66,000 and many other cricket grounds from India and Australia have made their place in the list.

Melbourne Cricket Ground

The Melbourne Cricket Ground built in the year 1853 is known for holding the two cricket world cups in the year 1992 and 2015. It is famous for its role in the development of international cricket as the first cricket Test Match and first One-Day International was held here, which was played between England and Australia in the year 1877 and 1971 respectively. The other historical games were the first colonial match played between Victoria and New South Wales in the year 1856. Even most of the AFL/VFL games were played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground since the year 1902.

Eden Gardens in Kolkata

On the other hand, Eden Gardens in Kolkata in India is the second largest ground and established in the year 1864. In the year 1934, the first recorded test was held at the stadium, and in 1987, the first One-Day International was played. The Cricket Association of Bengal also has its headquarters here. It also hosted the world cup in the year 1987 between Australia and England. The 199th penultimate test match of Sachin Tendulkar’s career against West Indies was hosted here. In India, the people are deeply attached to this game as they want to grab the accessories of their favorite cricketer; people pray for the win in the matches, finish off their work well in time, a passion for most of the people even the amateurs try their hands at playing cricket and much more.

Influence of Cricket in Maintaining International Relations

Cricket is a popular game in most of the countries and is played around the world, so it is seen as the stringent factor to promote international relations between many countries. The controversies that erupted between India and Pakistan eventually involved the cross-border terrorism, and the Kashmir issue was cooled down with the matches played between two countries and as their Prime Ministers and diplomats attended the matches with zeal. The friendly matches are played between two countries to promote bilateral relations and to strengthen the trade practices too for the growth of the economy.