Five International Cricket Stadiums That Are Unlucky For Team India

In cricket, playing away from home conditions can make a big impact on any player’s performance. Teams playing at home understand the track much better in comparison to the visiting teams. All this happens because the pitch and the stadium both play a major role in the gentleman’s game.

While some may consider this as non-influential, but history speaks for itself, the playing conditions inside a stadium very much impact a player. Speaking of this, some players thrive at a certain stadium, and thus their team has a better chance of winning.

The opposite is also very much possible.

Luck, therefore, plays an important role in sport, sometimes directly or indirectly it can even change the outcome of a match.

Having said that, today we will take a look at some international cricket stadiums that are extremely unlucky for Team India.

Seddon Park, Hamilton – New Zealand

Seddon Park is not a fortress for the Indian national cricket team, far from it, throughout history, the Men in Blue have played six ODI matches at Seddon Park and have won just one game from it.

On their last visit to this infamous venue for playing an ODI match, Team India lost to New Zealand on 31st January 2019. The visitors could only muster-up a total of 92 runs, which later saw them lose the fixture by the margin of eight wickets.

Across all formats, India has played 10 games at the Seddon Park and have won just three matches. Two of these three wins came against Zimbabwe and Ireland.

In 1992, India defeated Zimbabwe by 55 runs to register their first-ever win in Hamilton. The second victory came against Ireland, which clearly shows that India is out of luck whenever they play at the Seddon Park.

Lord’s, London – England

Iconic Lord’s is primarily associated with Test cricket. So, we will take Test cricket as our top priority. India played their first Test match at Lord’s on 25th June 1932. They were condemned to a defeat in that fixture and the following 88 years, saw India’s record hasn’t been much promising.

India have played a total of 17 Test matches at Lord’s winning just two out from it. They have lost 11 matches and four games ended as a draw.

India’s first victory at the Lord’s came 34 years ago, way back in 1986 and they have been winless here since 2014. Last year England defeated Team India by a big margin of an innings and 159 runs at Lord’s.

However, the silver lining is that India won their first-ever World Cup at this very venue, in 1983.

Kingsmead, Durban – South Africa

The Kingsmead Stadium in Durban, South Africa has been a very unfortunate venue for the Indian cricket team. In ODI cricket, India has faced South Africa at this venue five times and have just one victory to show from it.

The Men in Blue played their first-ever game at Kingsmead in 1992-93, where South Africa defeated them by a margin of 39 runs.

The last time India played at this venue was two years ago, which is the only occasion when they registered a win in Durban.

Saurashtra Cricket Stadium, Rajkot – India

Team India’s record in Rajkot, Gujarat has been far from impressive, despite being at home. Barring the recent fixture against Australia, India hadn’t won at this venue ever.

In the three matches that the Men in Blue have played in Rajkot, they have won just one game, which came in the recently-concluded series against Australia.

For the past few years, India’s performances at home have been brilliant, which is why having just one win from three games in Rajkot isn’t a feat with which our players would be proud of.

Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne – Australia

The Melbourne Cricket Ground or ‘MCG’ as it is fondly called, is another historically unlucky venue for team India. It is another of those venues, that are primarily associated with Test cricket, and hence we will take a look at India’s Test record here.

Team India played at this particular venue for the first time on 1st June 1948, and they had to taste defeat in that game.

Across all the 13 Test matches that India have played in Melbourne so far, they have won on just three occasions.

Team India have lost seven fixtures at this venue and have tied the remaining three matches. They first won a match in Melbourne 42 years ago, in 1978 and the most recent win came last year.

But as far as Test cricket goes, this venue is another unlucky stadium for team India.