Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune: pitch report, capacity and records
India have lost two of their three Tests at Pune’s MCA Stadium, both to a visiting left-arm spinner. Capacity, pitch behaviour and every Test, ODI, T20I and IPL record at Gahunje.
Feb 25, 2022 · Updated Sep 24, 2026
The Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium is at Gahunje, on the outskirts of Pune beside the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, and it seats 42,700. Since it opened in 2012 it has staged three Tests, 12 ODIs, five T20Is and 51 IPL matches. Its most striking record is a short one: India have played three Tests here and lost two of them, both to a visiting left-arm spinner who took 12 wickets or more.
MCA Stadium Pune at a glance
| Location | Gahunje, Pune, Maharashtra |
| Inaugurated | 1 April 2012, by Sharad Pawar |
| Architect | Michael Hopkins (Hopkins Architects) |
| Capacity | 42,700 |
| Ends | Pavilion End, Hill End |
| Also known as | Gahunje Stadium, MCA International Stadium |
For a while in 2013 it was the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, after Sahara bought the naming rights. The name went back to the MCA when Sahara paid only part of the ₹200 crore it had promised, which is why older scorecards and IPL archives still file the early matches under Sahara’s name. Pune’s older city ground, the Nehru Stadium, is a different venue altogether.
Test cricket at Pune: three Tests, two Indian defeats
On a home record as strong as India’s, two defeats from three is extraordinary, and the two losses followed the same script.
The first Test here, in February 2017, was supposed to suit India’s spinners. Instead Steve O’Keefe took 6/35 in the first innings and 6/35 again in the second, Steve Smith made the only hundred of the match, and India were bowled out for 105 and 107. Australia won by 333 runs, their first Test win in India since 2004.
In October 2024 it happened again. Mitchell Santner took 7/53 and 6/104, New Zealand won by 113 runs, and the result gave them their first Test series win in India and ended India’s run of 18 straight home series wins. India’s previous home series defeat had come against England in 2012.
| Test | Scores | Result |
|---|---|---|
| v Australia, Feb 2017 | Aus 260 & 285; Ind 105 & 107 | Australia by 333 runs |
| v South Africa, Oct 2019 | Ind 601/5d; SA 275 & 189 | India by an innings and 137 |
| v New Zealand, Oct 2024 | NZ 259 & 255; Ind 156 & 245 | New Zealand by 113 runs |
The one Indian win was the opposite kind of Test. Virat Kohli made 254 not out, his highest Test score, India declared on 601/5 and South Africa lost by an innings. All three Tests went to the side that won the toss and batted, which is the plainest pitch advice the ground has to offer.
O’Keefe’s 12/70 and Santner’s 13/157 are the two best match figures in Tests here. Ravichandran Ashwin has the most wickets at the ground, with 18.
MCA Stadium pitch report
In white-ball cricket this is a batting ground, and it has been for a while. The first-innings average across all 12 ODIs is 304.0, and the three against England in March 2021 averaged 327.3. The ODI record is split exactly, six wins batting first and six chasing.
The IPL story is more interesting, because it has swung twice.
| Seasons | Games | 1st-inns avg | Bat 1st won | Chase won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 to 2013 | 17 | 147.6 | 11 | 6 |
| 2015 to 2018 | 21 | 168.7 | 7 | 14 |
| 2022 | 13 | 171.5 | 10 | 3 |
In the Pune Warriors years the side batting first won nearly two in three. From 2015 to 2018, when Rising Pune Supergiant and then Chennai Super Kings played here, the chase took over. Then in 2022, when the whole IPL league stage was held in Mumbai and Pune, the side batting first won 10 of the 13 games at Gahunje. Across the league that season the split was exactly even, 37 wins each way. So in 2022, at least, Pune was the ground where you wanted to bat first.
For an IPL game here now, 170 to 175 is a fair first-innings target. Captains still usually bowl first when they win the toss, as they did in 32 of the 51 IPL matches.
ODI records at MCA Stadium
| Record | Figure |
|---|---|
| Highest total | 357/4, South Africa v New Zealand, 1 Nov 2023 |
| Lowest total | 167 all out, New Zealand v South Africa, 1 Nov 2023 |
| Highest score | 177*, Mitchell Marsh, Australia v Bangladesh, 11 Nov 2023 |
| Best bowling | 4/34, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Afghanistan v Sri Lanka, 30 Oct 2023 |
| Most runs | 551, Virat Kohli |
| Most wickets | 10, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah |
Marsh’s 177 not out came from 132 balls as Australia chased 307 with eight wickets in hand, and it is still his highest ODI score. The best chase at the ground is older: in January 2017, Kohli (122) and Kedar Jadhav (120 from 76 balls) took India to 356/7 against England’s 350/7.
A note on the numbers. Some public ball-by-ball archives are missing the Afghanistan v Sri Lanka World Cup game on 30 October 2023, in which Farooqi took 4/34 and Afghanistan chased 242 for the loss of three wickets. It is included here, which is why our match count and averages may differ from pages built on those archives.
T20I records at MCA Stadium
Five T20Is, one roughly every three years, and they have been lively. Sri Lanka’s 206/6 in January 2023 is the highest total, and India fell 16 short in reply despite Axar Patel’s 65 from 31 balls. India’s 101 all out against Sri Lanka in February 2016 is the lowest, and Dasun Shanaka’s 3/16 that night is the best bowling. The most recent, against England on 31 January 2025, is remembered for Shivam Dube’s 53 and the row over Harshit Rana replacing him as a concussion substitute and taking 3/33. India won by 15 runs.
IPL records at MCA Stadium
| Record | Figure |
|---|---|
| Highest total | 211/4, CSK v DD, 30 Apr 2018 |
| Lowest total | 73 all out, KXIP v RPS, 14 May 2017 |
| Highest score | 106, Shane Watson, CSK v RR, 20 Apr 2018 |
| Best bowling | 4/10, Lungi Ngidi, CSK v KXIP, 20 May 2018 |
| Most runs | 647, Steve Smith |
| Most wickets | 15, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Imran Tahir |
The ground has been home to three IPL sides. Pune Warriors India played here in 2012 and 2013, Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016 and 2017 with MS Dhoni and then Smith, and in 2018 Chennai Super Kings moved their remaining home games here after the Cauvery water protests made Chennai unsafe to stage them. Chennai won the title that year, and three of the ground’s five highest IPL totals belong to them.
Where Pune fits
Pune shared the 2022 IPL with three Mumbai grounds: the Wankhede Stadium, the Brabourne and the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. For the wider picture, see our ODI records and Virat Kohli’s records, which include the 254 made here.