I.S. Bindra Punjab Cricket Association Stadium (Mohali) Pitch Report, Results & Stats

IS Bindra Stadium – Mohali

IS Bindra Stadium is one of India’s finest cricket stadiums, which is located in Mohali in the northern state of Punjab. The stadium came up in a short span of time in an area earlier marked by swamps and hosted its first international fixture in 1993 when India played South Africa. The stadium was originally known as the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, but was renamed in honor of Inderjit Singh Bindra, a former President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)I as well as the Punjab Cricket Association. In its three-decade long existence, It has hosted several important matches, including the India-Pakistan semi-final of 2011 World Cup.In the Indian T20 League, it has been the home ground of the Punjab side. However, with the Maharaja Yadavindra International Stadium at Mullanpur set to be fully ready later this year, this would be the last Indian T20 League season where Punjab’s home matches will be played at this ground.

Nature of the Pitch
The pitch at Mohali has a reputation to be India’s fastest and has aided pacers traditionally with its bouncy nature. India were once all out for 83 in a Test against New Zealand in 1999, thanks to the pitch providing ample amount of assistance to the new ball bowlers of the opposition.With the aim of exploiting the moisture in the pitch early on, teams generally choose to bowl first in most of the matches in this venue in the Indian T20 League and since 2018, the chasing team has had more success at this venue. From 2018, spinners have almost half the number of wickets in Indian T20 League as compared to pacers at this venue. Before this season of Indian T20 League began, Punjab had managed to win 30 out of 56 matches at this venue.

History
The stadium was built in the early 1990s and in no time developed a name for itself with its world class facilities. Since its first taste of international cricket in 1993, the stadium went on to host many high-profile matches, including the dramatic semi-final played between Australia and West Indies in the 1996 World Cup. Apart from the 2011 World Cup Semi-Final between India and Pakistan, the stadium was also the host to the 2016 World T20 Quarter Final between India and Australia, in which Virat Kohli played one of his better T20I knocks and took India to a win with an unbeaten 82*. The 2011 Semi-final was also important for political reasons as it saw Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani watch the match together.

General Information about the Stadium
The seating capacity of the stadium is around 25,000. It’s unique because of its floodlights, which unlike other stadiums, are 16 in this stadium. It’s not only the number of floodlights that’s attention worthy, but also the low height at which they exist. The reason for the floodlights being so low is the presence of the Chandigarh Airport in vicinity. The two ends are called South End Pavilion and North End Pavilion. In 2022, ahead of an India-Australia T20I, the Punjab Cricket Association renamed two stands in the stadium after ex-India cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh, both cricketers from Punjab who were also world cup winners for the country in 2011.

Trivia
India’s star batter Virat Kohli played his 100th Test at this venue in 2022 against Sri Lanka.
The stadium also saw Indian batter Rohit Sharma score his third double hundred in ODIs when he made 208* in 2017 against Sri Lanka.