Pindi Club Ground, also known as the Army Sports Ground, is a multi-use

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It is used mostly for

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

matches. The stadium has the capacity to hold 15,000 people and hosted its first and only international

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

in 1965. It also hosted one match as part of the

1987 Cricket World Cup The 1987 Cricket World Cup (officially known as the Reliance Cup 1987 for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth Cricket World Cup. It was held from 8 October to 8 November 1987 in India and Pakistan – the first such tournament to be held outsid ...

. It was the only cricket ground in Rawalpindi capable of hosting international matches before the establishment of

Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium located in DKS Rawalpindi in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is near to Pir Meher Ali Shah University, Rawalpindi, and Rawalpindi Arts Council, Rawalpindi. The first international match at the ...

in 1992.

History

The first ever double century here was scored in 1893 by the grandson of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, Prince Christian Victor, who was then posted in the army at Rawalpindi. He scored 205 runs against

Devonshire Regiment The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1958 ...

while playing for

King's Royal Rifles The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

. The ground also hosted the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

for two matches, one against the Europeans and the other versus Rawalpindi Sports Club, in November 1926. The first foreign side to visit the ground after Pakistan's

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

in 1947 was

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

(now Sri Lanka), which faced Commander-in-Chief XI in March 1950. Further national team tours followed in the soon afterwards. India's first tour of Pakistan in 1955, which was the first Test series to have been played in Pakistan, also involved a tour match against a Combined Services team in February 1955. Further international tours to Pakistan often involved a three-day practice matches against local teams, which were hosted by the Pindi Club Ground.

Test match

Pindi Club Ground has hosted just one Test match, which was against

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 ...

in March 1965, which

won convincingly by a margin of an innings and 64 runs. Interestingly, although Pakistan scored 318 runs in their only innings, there was not a single century scored. Neither was there any five wicket haul, although left arm spinner

Pervez Sajjad Pervez Sajjad Hasan (Urdu: پرویز سجاد حسن; born 30 August 1942, Lahore, Punjab) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 19 Tests from 1964 to 1973. Family He was one of seven brothers. One of his brothers was the Pakistan Test ...

took four wickets in each innings.

Ehsan Mani Ehsan Mani (Urdu: ; born 23 March 1945) is a Pakistani chartered accountant who is the former president of International Cricket Council (ICC) and former Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Early life Mani was born in Rawalpindi Pakistan in ...

, former ICC President and

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...

Chairman, served as one of the scorers of that match.

One Day Internationals

The ground has hosted two ODIs, against the

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

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1985 and 1987 respectively. The latter match was played as a part of 1987 Cricket World Cup, and was completed on the reserve day after rain had stopped play on the original date. The Pakistan team won both matches. The highest ODI score by any batsman on this ground is the unbeaten 92 by Sir Richie Richardson.

Current use

The ground is now used for cricket matches, especially by local clubs and domestic teams.

References

Stadiums in Pakistan Test cricket grounds in Pakistan Cricket grounds in Pakistan

Ground Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the surface of the Earth not covered by water * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical c ...

1987 Cricket World Cup stadiums {{Pakistan-sports-venue-stub

History

Test match

One Day Internationals

Current use

See also

References