The Maulana Azad Stadium (also spelled ''Molana Azad Stadium'') is a stadium in

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...

and is one of the home venues for the

Jammu and Kashmir cricket team The Jammu and Kashmir cricket team is a cricket team based in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, run by JKCA. It is in the Elite Group C of the Ranji Trophy. Its main home ground is the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar, and i ...

. It is located on the banks of the

Tawi River Tawi is a river that flows through the city of Jammu. The Tawi is a major left bank tributary of the river Chenab. Tawi river is considered sacred and holy, as is the case with most rivers in India. * The source of Tawi is the Kailash Kund Spr ...

Cricket

Maulana Azad Stadium has hosted home games for Jammu and Kashmir in domestic tournaments since 1966. It has also hosted one

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

in 1988 between

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, which was abandoned due to rain without a ball being bowled. The stadium has played host to one

women's test Women's Test cricket is the longest format of women's cricket and is the female equivalent to men's Test cricket. Matches comprise four-innings and are held over a maximum of four days between two of the leading cricketing nations. The rules gov ...

match where

lost to

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and one

Women's One Day International Women's One Day International (WODI) is the limited overs form of women's cricket. Matches are scheduled for 50 overs, equivalent to the men's game. The first women's ODIs were played in 1973, as part of the first Women's World Cup which was ...

where India beat

in 1985.

Other uses

The ground is used for the Republic Day Parade in the state annually. In 1995, three bomb blasts containing

RDX RDX (abbreviation of "Research Department eXplosive") or hexogen, among other names, is an organic compound with the formula (O2N2CH2)3. It is a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive. Chemically, it is classified as a n ...

were set off by remote control at the stadium during the parade resulting in eight deaths and fifty four injuries. The blasts occurred when

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

K V Krishna Rao was on stage taking salute with 30,000 people in attendance. Rao himself narrowly escaped the blast. In the year 2000, three solar-activated rockets programmed to hit Maulana Azad Stadium were found by the police a few days prior to the Republic Day Parade. Since the bombing incident in 1995 the entire turf is dug up as part of a security preparations prior to the Republic Day Parade. In 2000, as part of one of these excavations, an ancient structure of brick and plastered lime was unearthed. A newspaper report claimed that the structure was related to water since a drain was found. A lodging centre at the stadium has played host to pilgrims embarking on the Amarnath yatra, from where the yatra flags off.

References

{{coord missing, Jammu and Kashmir Cricket grounds in Jammu and Kashmir Sport in Jammu and Kashmir Sports venues in Jammu and Kashmir Buildings and structures in Jammu (city) Memorials to Abul Kalam Azad Sports venues completed in 1966 1966 establishments in Jammu and Kashmir 20th-century architecture in India