The Ground of Glory – Nahar Singh Stadium in Faridabad
It shone in pride of honor, the honor of being a witness of those glorious shots and throws that got hundreds of thunderous applause and thousands of those jumping on their seats in sheer excitement!Earlier known as the Mayur Stadium, the Nahar Singh Stadium still stands as the one and only cricket stadium in Faridabad city. It was built in 1981 and is owned by Haryana Cricket Association. In 1986, the stadium was renovated after the proposal was sanctioned by Bhajan Lal, the then Chief Minister of Haryana.
The stadium holds the capacity of about 25000 people. The premise is quite a big one with three pitches for practice sessions and six center pitches. Apart from this, the stadium also has rest of the amenities as well, that include - a pavilion with the capacity of 200, press box, the commentator box, President box, a box for media, the Umpire room, a restaurant, a health club, an outdoor tennis court, a card room, a billiard room and a nice coffee shop.
The parking area comprises of 9 stands for two-wheeler and complete parking area.
The Matches Played in Nahar Singh Stadium
It was on November 22 1982, when a game of Ranji Trophy was played here. Then, a match between Indian Board President’s XI and Pakistan under-25 was played in January 1987. In November 1988, the players from Haryana, Sarkar Talwar and Rajinder Goel, the spinner got a chance to show their caliber in the match played between New Zealand and North Zone.The stadium has been the venue for several One Day International (ODI) matches – between India and countries like West Indies, Zimbabwe, South Africa and England. Among them, India won two ODI matches defeating West Indies and England.
The first ODI match of the five – the Charms Cup 1992-93, was played between India and Zimbabwe. The same year in the month of October, a very interesting match between Haryana and Rest of India was also played. The leader of Haryana team was Kapil Dev, while the coach was Sarkar Talwar. Haryana won this match.
The first match of 5 ODI matches was played in 1994. This was between India and West Indies. In this match, Kapil Dev played ODI for the last time. A game of Titan Cup series was also played here in 1996. The match was played between South Africa and Australia. A match of the TVS Cup series was also played between New Zealand and Australia in 2003.
The stadium hosted major series namely, Duleep Trophy, Ranji Trophy, Wills Trophy and Deodhar Trophy. Unfortunately, in 2007, a decision was made by Haryana Cricket Association as per which the venue from International match was shifted from Nahar Singh Stadium of Faridabad to a stadium in the 16th sector of Chandigarh.
The stadium has seen glorious victories of glorious cricket heroes. This was the place where Irani Trophy of Haryana came into Indian hands. Even the popular champion’s team of under-15 Lombard team got its form, here only. The stadium has also witnessed the amazing sweep shots by Douglas Marillier. If we don’t go that past, who would forget the heard-earned victory England, in which Suresh Raina had played a major role.
Setback to the Glory of the Stadium
In past few years, the stadium has been losing that charm and enthusiasm that it used to have earlier. Infact, it is not even known to many. Most of the people even in Faridabad itself are hardly aware about it. There are several reasons responsible for this. The first one is, its approachability which has always been a matter of concern.
The Badarpur bottle-neck has led to the visiting teams stay in Delhi amidst the full five-star comforts, till the match day. They prefer staying in Delhi only and reach the venue – Faridabad, the very day of match.The Haryana Cricket Association certainly could have done something for the betterment of the stadium owing to its glorious past.
It was a big setback for the cricket-lovers of Faridabad, when the venue of an international match was changed from the Nahar Singh Stadium to the stadium in Chandigarh. The reason given was bad condition of the pitch which was said to be unfit for a high-level game of cricket. Another reason was the administrative issues due to the uncivilized and uncultured crowd in the area.
This was extremely disappointing for the people here, who were quite excited about the match of top-notch level. This was also a heavy blow to the reputation of the stadium itself that led to its uncertain future as well.
Despite all this and trying to absorb the setback, the chief curator of the stadium, Vijay Yadav had also said that people should try to find faults in them first. Though the ground was in bad shape but that doesn’t mean that it could not have been brought back to the best condition as before every match, the task is taken over by the specialist staff, the ground is worked upon a lot and made befitting for match, be it of any kind or any level.
Sarkar Talwar, who served as a coach for the Lombard under-15 team and the team of Haryana – the winners of Ranji trophy, believed that the stadium would retain back its original glory with the return of international-level cricket. According to him, the stadium was a revered cricket institution and institutions do not die.
Today, this institution stands majestically in the new industrial township of Faridabad, breathing its moments of pride and waiting for the moment it gets back its lost glory.
Raja Nahar Singh International Cricket Stadium
Address: 97PW+V69, New Industrial Town, Aravalli Golf Course, New Industrial Township, Faridabad, Haryana 121001
Capacity: 25,000
Capacity: 25,000
How to Reach
By bus : These Bus lines stop near Nahar Singh Cricket Stadium:CS-12, CS-13B, CS-8, CS-9. The N.I.T.Bus Stand (Faridabad) stop is the nearest one to Nahar Singh Cricket Stadium in Faridabad.
By Metro: The Neelam Chowk Ajronda station in Violet line is the nearest one to Nahar Singh Stadium.
By Rail: Faridabad New Town Railway is the nearby railway station near the Stadium