Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot: pitch report, capacity and records
Rajkot’s Niranjan Shah Stadium, the former Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, has a men’s ODI first-innings average of 314.2 and has seen only one successful ODI chase. Its pitch, capacity and every record, format by format.
Sep 26, 2023 · Updated Sep 25, 2026
The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, renamed the Niranjan Shah Stadium in February 2024 and still widely called the Khandheri stadium, is a 28,000-capacity ground that opened in 2008 and staged its first international in January 2013. It has since hosted three Tests, five men’s ODIs, six men’s T20Is and three women’s ODIs, and most of the evidence says bat first.
Every figure below was worked out from ball-by-ball data for each match played at the ground.
Rajkot cricket stadium at a glance
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Current name | Niranjan Shah Stadium (since 14 February 2024) |
| Former name | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium |
| Also known as | Khandheri stadium |
| City | Rajkot, Gujarat |
| Capacity | 28,000 |
| Established | 2008 |
| Owner | Saurashtra Cricket Association |
| Ends | Pavilion End, Media End |
| First ODI | 11 January 2013, India v England |
| First T20I | 10 October 2013, India v Australia |
| First Test | 9 November 2016, India v England |
| IPL tenant | Gujarat Lions (2016 and 2017) |
The stadium was renamed on the eve of the Rajkot Test against England in 2024, after Niranjan Shah, the former BCCI secretary who played 12 first-class matches for Saurashtra and has run cricket in the region for decades. It is Saurashtra’s home ground, which is why two of the most familiar names on its records sheet are Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja.
Not the old Rajkot ground
A lot of “Rajkot ODI records” pages mix two venues. Before this stadium existed, Rajkot’s internationals were played at the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground in the city, which hosted 12 ODIs between October 1986 and December 2009. Its last one is the match most people remember: India made 414 for 7 against Sri Lanka on 15 December 2009, Virender Sehwag hit 146, and Sri Lanka replied with 411 for 8 to lose by three runs.
That game, and the 387 for 5 India made against England there in 2008, belong to the old ground. None of the figures below include them.
Rajkot pitch report: is it a batting track?
Yes, and the numbers are unusually one-sided. The side batting first has won four of the five men’s ODIs, four of the six men’s T20Is and both of the women’s ODIs in which India batted first. In the three Tests, the team winning the toss chose to bat every time, and the first innings of those matches reached 537, 649 for 9 declared and 445.
| Format | Games | 1st inns avg | Bat 1st won | Chased |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s ODI | 5 | 314.2 | 4 | 1 |
| Men’s T20I | 6 | 186.3 | 4 | 2 |
| IPL (2016-17) | 10 | 168.9 | 3 | 6 |
| Women’s ODI | 3 | 347.7 | 2 | 1 |
An ODI first-innings average of 314.2 puts Rajkot in the same bracket as the Holkar Stadium in Indore, where the side batting first has averaged 332 across eight men’s ODIs. The lowest first-innings total Rajkot has seen in a men’s ODI is South Africa’s 270 for 7 in 2015, and they defended it.
The one exception in the 50-over record is recent. On 14 January 2026, KL Rahul made 112 not out from 92 balls in India’s 284 for 7, and Daryl Mitchell answered with 131 not out as New Zealand chased it with 15 balls to spare. That is the only successful chase in a men’s ODI here.
The IPL split looks like it contradicts all of this, with chasers winning six of ten. Treat it with care. Those ten games were all played in 2016 and 2017, when Gujarat Lions used the ground, and no IPL match has been played here since. The par of 168.9 is nearly a decade old and was set before the league’s scoring jumped.
Test records at Rajkot
| Dates | Match | Scores | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9-13 Nov 2016 | India v England | Eng 537 & 260/3d; Ind 488 & 172/6 | Drawn |
| 4-6 Oct 2018 | India v West Indies | Ind 649/9d; WI 181 & 196 | India by an innings and 272 runs |
| 15-18 Feb 2024 | India v England | Ind 445 & 430/4d; Eng 314 & 122 | India by 434 runs |
Three Tests have produced 13 centuries. The first match alone had six, from Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes for England and Murali Vijay and Pujara for India, and it is still the only draw.
The next two were among the heaviest defeats India have ever handed out. Prithvi Shaw made 134 on debut in 2018, becoming the youngest Indian to score a Test hundred on debut at 18, and India won by an innings and 272 runs, which was their biggest Test win at the time. In 2024 they set another record. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s unbeaten 214 included 12 sixes, equalling Wasim Akram’s record for a Test innings, England were bowled out for 122 on the fourth day, and the 434-run margin became India’s largest Test win by runs.
| Record | Figure |
|---|---|
| Highest total | 649/9 declared, India v West Indies, 2018 |
| Lowest total | 122, England, 2024 |
| Highest score | 214 not out, Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2024 |
| Best bowling | 5/41, Ravindra Jadeja v England, 2024 |
| Best match figures | 7/92, Ravindra Jadeja, 2024 |
Jadeja is the ground’s leading Test run-scorer and its leading Test wicket-taker, with 256 runs and 14 wickets. He has two hundreds here, 100 not out against West Indies and 112 against England, which is as good a home record as a Saurashtra player could ask for.
ODI records at Rajkot
| Date | Match | Batting first | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Jan 2013 | India v England | Eng 325/4 | England by 9 runs |
| 18 Oct 2015 | India v South Africa | SA 270/7 | South Africa by 18 runs |
| 17 Jan 2020 | India v Australia | Ind 340/6 | India by 36 runs |
| 27 Sep 2023 | India v Australia | Aus 352/7 | Australia by 66 runs |
| 14 Jan 2026 | India v New Zealand | Ind 284/7 | New Zealand by 7 wickets |
India have won one of their five ODIs at the ground. The home side has lost more often here than it has won, which is not what the reputation of Indian home conditions would suggest.
| Record | Figure |
|---|---|
| Highest total | 352/7, Australia v India, 2023 |
| Highest score | 131 not out, Daryl Mitchell, 2026 |
| Best bowling | 4/39, Morne Morkel for South Africa, 2015 |
| Most runs | 249, Virat Kohli, five innings |
| Most wickets | 5, Kuldeep Yadav |
Only three ODI hundreds have been made here: Quinton de Kock’s 103 in 2015, and Rahul’s 112 not out and Mitchell’s 131 not out in the same match in 2026.
T20I records at Rajkot
| Date | Match | Batting first | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Oct 2013 | India v Australia | Aus 201/7 | India by 6 wickets |
| 4 Nov 2017 | India v New Zealand | NZ 196/2 | New Zealand by 40 runs |
| 7 Nov 2019 | India v Bangladesh | Ban 153/6 | India by 8 wickets |
| 17 Jun 2022 | India v South Africa | Ind 169/6 | India by 82 runs |
| 7 Jan 2023 | India v Sri Lanka | Ind 228/5 | India by 91 runs |
| 28 Jan 2025 | India v England | Eng 171/9 | England by 26 runs |
Suryakumar Yadav’s 112 not out from 51 balls against Sri Lanka in 2023 is the ground’s T20I high, and it carried India to 228 for 5, still the biggest total here. It was his third T20I hundred. Colin Munro’s 109 not out in 2017 is the only other one. The best bowling belongs to Varun Chakravarthy, whose 5/24 against England in 2025 came in a match India lost.
| Record | Figure |
|---|---|
| Highest total | 228/5, India v Sri Lanka, 2023 |
| Lowest total | 87, South Africa, 2022 |
| Highest score | 112 not out, Suryakumar Yadav, 2023 |
| Best bowling | 5/24, Varun Chakravarthy, 2025 |
| Most wickets | 7, Yuzvendra Chahal |
Women’s ODI records: India’s highest total
The ground’s three women’s ODIs, against Ireland in January 2025, produced the most striking number on this page. In the third match on 15 January, Pratika Rawal made 154 and Smriti Mandhana 135, their opening stand was worth 233, and India finished on 435 for 5. It was the first time India had passed 400 in an ODI, men or women. The men’s best is 418 for 5.
Mandhana’s hundred came from 70 balls, the fastest by an Indian woman in ODIs at the time, and India won by 304 runs. Two days earlier they had made 370 for 5 on the same pitch, then their highest ODI total.
IPL records at Rajkot
Gujarat Lions played ten home games at the ground across their two seasons. Most of what people remember came from visiting players.
| Record | Figure |
|---|---|
| Highest total | 213/2, Royal Challengers Bangalore v Gujarat Lions, 2017 |
| Highest score | 100 not out from 63 balls, Virat Kohli, 2016 |
| Best bowling | 5/17, Andrew Tye for Gujarat Lions v Rising Pune Supergiant, 2017 |
| Most runs | 328, Suresh Raina |
Tye’s 5/17 came on his IPL debut and included a hat-trick, and it was the best return by a debutant in the league until Alzarri Joseph took 6/12 in 2019. Kolkata Knight Riders chased 184 without losing a wicket in April 2017, Chris Lynn making 93 not out and Gautam Gambhir 76 not out. That stood as the biggest ten-wicket chase in IPL history until Gujarat Titans made 205 without loss in Delhi in May 2025. The ground also staged a tie, Gujarat Lions and Mumbai Indians both making 153 in 2017, which Mumbai won in the Super Over.
For how Rajkot’s old IPL par compares with the grounds in use today, see our IPL par score by ground, and for where Rajkot’s totals sit in the format as a whole, our list of the highest ODI totals.
Frequently asked questions
What is the capacity of Rajkot cricket stadium?
The Niranjan Shah Stadium holds 28,000 spectators.
Why was the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium renamed?
It was renamed on 14 February 2024 in honour of Niranjan Shah, the former BCCI secretary and long-serving Saurashtra Cricket Association administrator.
Is the Rajkot pitch good for batting?
Yes. The men’s ODI first-innings average is 314.2, the side batting first has won four of five men’s ODIs and four of six men’s T20Is, and every Test captain who won the toss chose to bat.