One of the beautiful dichotomies of being seated in Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium is that while you struggle you get what the Kannada speaking nationals are actually emoting, you feel drawn to their simplistic and homely vibe. To the ever-curious cricket fan, it’s a quintessential home away from home. You could be from any socio-cultural background but once you are seated in a cricket stadium- all boundaries and voids diminish. Prejudices fall, gaps are eschewed and an unspoken unison exists between people from different walks of life.
The only enmity, we feel as spectators could possible have, could be with time; that after a particular haul, we are to make way through the exit doors.
Home to famous Cricketscapes
It could be argued that for once, even for a few hours or so, we come united and become a frontal force to nerve-wrecking excitement that only a game like cricket can deliver.
And few things could be more beautiful and telling than this core truth you feel when you sit in the crazily delightful Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, home to some of the most enthralling cricketscapes if it could be called so. The melting pot of what Karnataka cricket has to offer in entirety and one of the throbbing veins of cricketing establishment in southern India.
Standing in the heart of one of India’s booming IT and Tech centers, the Chinnaswamy stadium gracefully reminds the hurried lot about the abundant joys of being in midst of a cricketing contest. About the simple pleasures of life and about coming together to witness some meteoric cricketing heights. Something that one of the most revered addresses in Bengaluru has been doing since 1969, nearly a decade now.
Glorious feats scored at Chinnaswamy Stadium
Some epitomes of high-octane action that’s graced the Chinnaswamy could be boiled down to the following:
The Chennaswami made its famous debut by welcoming the West Indies team of the 1970s, one at the peak of its powers that included two of its most famous rising stars- Sir Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge.
Sachin Tendulkar played his last Test as India captain here at the Chinnaswamy stadium against Cronje’s mighty South Africa.
The high octane 1996 clash between Pakistan and India was held much to the jubilation for home fans. The game, a famous day nighter was played under floodlights for the very first time in Bengaluru.
One of the two domineering Rohit Sharma double hundreds in ODIs- that famous 209 versus Australia- came to the delight of fans at the Chennaswami. Who can forget the date ever? November 2, 2013.
That said, the Chinnaswamy is also home to a thumping and one of the more famous IPL marquees- Royal Challengers Bangalore that have blazed quite a trail thanks to the once famous troika of Gayle-Kohli-De Villiers.
Best RCB games at Chinnaswamy Stadium
Over the years, three of the most famous RCB wins at Chinnaswamy have unfurled at the back of mighty hitting:
- Back in the famous 2013 contest between Bengaluru and Kolkata, the former reigned supreme in a run fest, chasing down a tricky 155 on a bowling friendly wicket at the Chinnaswamy when Virat and De Villiers struggled. The mighty Gayle unleashed perhaps his finest IPL fifty, an 85 off 50 balls in dismantling Kolkata.
- The IPL’s highest ever score was constructed here at the Chinnaswamy thanks to a mighty assault by the Universe Boss, Chris Gayle, who in his 175*, took Bangalore to 263, to tether Pune to pieces
- RCB’s finest run chase against the Gujarat Lions, a mighty 144 run-win came in 2016, at the back of twin centuries by Kohli and De Villiers, two of IPL’s modern superstars who fired 20 sixes between them on May 14, 2016.
What’s the pitch typically like?
A typical RCB pitch here at the Chinnaswamy sees batting-friendly pitches drub slower bowlers thanks to the elevation, shorter boundaries and a lightening fast outfield. Particularly the first few overs offer a mouthwatering appetite for batsmen from the word go. Although, it’s one of those pitches where the seamers can galore over enticed crowds on their day.
RCB’s form at Chinnaswamy Stadium
| Season | Games played in total | Games played at Bangalore | Games won at Bangalore | Games lost at Bangalore | No result/abandoned |
| 2008 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | – |
| 2009 | 16 | – | – | – | – |
| 2010 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 3 | – |
| 2011 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 2012 | 16 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 2013 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | – |
| 2014 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 3 | – |
| 2015 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 2016 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 4 | – |
| 2017 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
