Nagpur cricket stadium pitch report: VCA Jamtha Test, ODI and T20I records

The Nagpur cricket stadium at Jamtha has staged seven men’s Tests, and the side batting first has won three, lost three and drawn one. That evenness hides a sharp break. In its first four Tests, from 2008 to 2012, the first innings averaged 380.5. In the three played since 2015 it has averaged 199.0, and the three lowest Test totals at the ground all came in that later run. The next Test here is the first of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia, from 21 to 25 January 2027, and the last Australian side to play a Test at Jamtha was bowled out for 177 and 91.

Every split on this page is counted match by match from ESPNcricinfo’s full results lists for the ground, which cover 7 Tests, 10 ODIs and 14 T20Is.

VCA Stadium Nagpur at a glance

Detail	VCA Stadium, Jamtha
Full name	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium
Location	Jamtha, on the southern edge of Nagpur
Opened	2008
Capacity	45,000
Ends	Pavilion End, Secretary End
Home team	Vidarbha
First Test	India v Australia, November 2008
Matches	7 Tests, 10 ODIs, 14 T20Is

Jamtha replaced the old VCA Ground in Civil Lines, which hosted nine Tests between 1965 and 2006 and is a separate venue with its own records. Wikipedia’s article on the ground still gives Jamtha six Tests. The seventh is the February 2010 match against South Africa, which India lost by an innings and 6 runs, and the ESPNcricinfo match list includes it.

Nagpur pitch report: what does the Jamtha surface do?

The Test pitch is the thing that has changed most at this ground. All seven captains who won the toss chose to bat, and the scores they then made split cleanly into two periods.

Period	Tests	1st-inns avg	Bat first W-L-D
2008-2012	4	380.5	2-1-1
2015-2023	3	199.0	1-2-0

The early pitches let a side bat for two days. South Africa made 558 for 6 declared in 2010 and Hashim Amla batted 675 minutes for 253 not out. In 2012 England made 330 and 352 for 4 declared to draw the match and win the series. The 2015 Test against South Africa went the other way and finished inside three days. South Africa were bowled out for 79, 33 of the 40 wickets fell to spinners, and match referee Jeff Crowe rated the pitch poor, after which the ICC issued the venue an official warning.

The 2023 Test against Australia also ended in three days. Australia won the toss and batted, made 177, and lost by an innings and 132 runs. India made 400 in reply, with Rohit Sharma scoring 120, Axar Patel 84 and Ravindra Jadeja 70, after Jadeja had taken 5 for 47 on the first day. Visiting captains who have won the toss and batted at Jamtha have lost three of five Tests and won one.

The white-ball pitch reads differently. In ODIs the chasing side has won seven of 10, including India’s 351 for 4 to beat Australia’s 350 for 6 in 2013. In T20Is it is the reverse: captains have chosen to field in eight of 14 games, yet the side batting first has won 10. The average first innings across the 13 full-length T20Is is 157.4, pulled up by India’s 238 for 7 against New Zealand in January 2026.

Nagpur Test records

Record	Figure	By	Match
Highest total	610/6d	India	v Sri Lanka, 2017
Lowest total	79	South Africa	v India, 2015
Highest score	253*	Hashim Amla	v India, 2010
Best innings bowling	8/215	Jason Krejza	v India, 2008
Best match bowling	12/98	R Ashwin	v South Africa, 2015
Biggest win	Inns and 239 runs	India	v Sri Lanka, 2017

Virat Kohli’s 213 in the 2017 Test is the highest score by an India batter at the ground, and India’s 610 for 6 declared in that match is the highest total. Krejza’s 8 for 215 came on his Test debut in 2008 and is the most expensive eight-wicket haul in Test history. He finished with 12 for 358 in the match, and India still won it by 172 runs. Dale Steyn’s 7 for 51 in 2010 is the best return by a fast bowler, and Todd Murphy took 7 for 124 on debut in 2023.

Most Test runs and wickets at Jamtha

Batter	Tests	Runs	Average
Virat Kohli	4	366	73.20
Virender Sehwag	4	357	59.50
MS Dhoni	4	339	56.50
Hashim Amla	2	293	146.50
Sachin Tendulkar	4	291	48.50

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Average
R Ashwin	4	31	15.22
Ravindra Jadeja	4	19	18.36
Ishant Sharma	6	19	22.78
Harbhajan Singh	3	13	33.76
Jason Krejza	1	12	29.83

Ashwin’s 31 wickets came in four Tests, with three five-wicket hauls. Ishant Sharma played six of the ground’s seven Tests, more than anyone else on these lists. For where these names sit across whole careers, see our list of the most sixes in international cricket and the most runs in ODI cricket.

India’s record at the Nagpur cricket stadium

Format	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
Tests	7	5	1	1
ODIs	7	5	2	–
T20Is	6	4	2	–

India’s only Test defeat here is the 2010 innings loss to South Africa. They have won four and drawn one of their five Tests since, and the three wins since 2015 were all by an innings or by more than 100 runs. In ODIs India have won their last four at the ground. The 2019 match was the tightest: Kohli made 116 out of 250, and Australia were bowled out for 242 to lose by 8 runs.

Both of India’s T20I defeats came early. Sri Lanka beat them by 29 runs in December 2009, and in March 2016 New Zealand bowled India out for 79 to win a World T20 group game by 47 runs. Since then India have won all four T20Is here. Deepak Chahar’s 6 for 7 against Bangladesh in November 2019 is the best bowling in a T20I at the ground. It was a world record for the format at the time, and it included the first hat-trick by an India men’s bowler in T20Is.

Nagpur ODI and T20I records

Record	ODI	T20I
Highest total	354/7, India v Australia, 2009	238/7, India v New Zealand, 2026
Lowest total	123, Canada v Zimbabwe, 2011	79, India v New Zealand, 2016
Highest score	156, George Bailey, 2013	84, Abhishek Sharma, 2026
Best bowling	5/50, Dale Steyn, 2011	6/7, Deepak Chahar, 2019
Highest chase	351/4, India v Australia, 2013	123/7, West Indies v South Africa, 2016

Four of the ground’s ODIs were 2011 World Cup matches, and India’s only game in that tournament here was a three-wicket defeat to South Africa after Sachin Tendulkar made 111. George Bailey’s 156 in 2013 is the highest ODI score at Jamtha, and he finished on the losing side because Kohli made 115 not out off 66 balls in the chase. Abhishek Sharma’s 84 off 35 balls in January 2026 is the highest T20I score here.

Nagpur cricket stadium FAQs

Is the Nagpur pitch good for batting or bowling? In Tests it has turned into a spinner’s pitch. The first innings averaged 380.5 in the four Tests up to 2012 and 199.0 in the three since 2015, two of which finished in three days. In ODIs it has suited chasing sides, who have won seven of 10.

What is the highest Test score at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur? India’s 610 for 6 declared against Sri Lanka in November 2017, when Kohli made 213. The highest individual score is Hashim Amla’s 253 not out for South Africa in February 2010.

How many Tests has the Jamtha stadium hosted? Seven, from November 2008 to February 2023. The eighth is the first Test of India’s series against Australia, from 21 to 25 January 2027.

What is India’s Test record at Nagpur? Five wins, one defeat and one draw. The defeat was by an innings and 6 runs against South Africa in 2010.

Other venue profiles in this series include the Raipur cricket stadium, Holkar Stadium in Indore and Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

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