Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Kochi)
Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, locally known as Kaloor Stadium is a multi-purpose international stadium situated in Kochi, Kerala. The stadium has a capacity of 80,000. For Indian Super League matches it is restricted to 39,000 as only lower and middle tiers of the stadium are rented out for the matches. Before renovation in 2008, the staidum had a capacity of over 100,000. The building of a world-class international sports stadium in Kerala was sanctioned by the government of the late Chief minister of Kerala, K. Karunakaran. The stadium was completed ahead of schedule in 1996 by the Greater Cochin Development Authority led by V. Joseph Thomas IPS. The stadium is widely touted to be one of the noisiest football stadiums in the world due to its distinctive architecture.
The stadium has played host to a number of international cricket and football matches. The extensive grounds of the stadium serve as venue for important exhibitions, cinema events and political rallies in the city. The most innovative aspect of the stadium is its unique lighting towers of 2 kW Floodlights which when switched on fully can provide lighting levels for HD telecast. The Structure of the tower is itself one of a kind in India. Greater Cochin Development Authority leased out the Jawaharlal Nehru International stadium at Kaloor to the Kerala Cricket Association for a period of 30 years.
The stadium acts as the home ground for teams including Kerala cricket team, Kerala Blasters FC. Stadium holds the privilege of having the fifth loudest crowd in the world, during ISL 2016 final match where Kerala Blasters played against Atletico de Kolkata.
Kochi was one of the six host cities for 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in India. As of 19 August 2017, the stadium has hosted 10 ODIs.
History
Early years and Football's popularity
The Kaloor Stadium was originally constructed as a football stadium, but considering that Kerala is one of the few regions in India where Football enjoys considerable popularity. Indeed, in a match between India and Iraq in 1997, approximately 1,00,000 spectators filled up the venue, thus overcrowding it, which remains a record at this place. This was in the Nehru Cup International Football Tournament in 1997, which was the first tournament at the venue.The stadium won several laurels for being constructed in a timely manner. The stadium was completed under the watchful eyes of late V. Joseph Thomas IPS who was the head of the Greater Cochin Development Authority. He was a huge fan of soccer from his college days at St. Thomas College, Palai and also served as the patron of the Kerala State Athletics Association. The stadium was inaugurated by then President of India Shankar Dayal Sharma in 1996. It has 1.3 kilometres in outer circle.
International Cricket
After 1998, football went down and Cricket took the centre-stage for many years, drawing sell-out and high money grossing games. In fact, the highest money grosser at the venue was made in a cricket ODI match between India and its arch-rival Pakistan on April 2005. The first ODI played on this ground was between India and Australia on 1 April 1998.Kaloor stadium hosted the first match India played after Sachin Tendulkar's retirement. The pavilion was renamed as Sachin Tendulkar pavilion as an honour to him before this match between India and West Indies on 21 November 2013 which India won by 6 wickets.
The stadium underwent a massive renovation including a modern turf, an aesthetic modern roofing and a four-lane road from the south side of the stadium.
The first Indian Premier League game at the stadium was on 9 April 2011, when the Kochi Tuskers Kerala hosted the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was the first IPL match for the Kochi Tuskers. Five of their 2011 home games were played in this stadium, and the other two were played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. The stadium hosted the semi-final and final of the 2013 Duleep Trophy.
Return of Football and the ISL
In 2011, Chirag United claimed the tenancy of the venue. However, the premier football club of India was still not able to fill up the stadium's massive capacity. Football returned to prominence at the venue after the launch of Indian Super League in 2014. The stadium is the home ground to Kerala Blasters, co-owned by Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who has massive fan-following in the city. Some of the games involving the home team drew crowds in excess of 55,000 in the inaugural edition.The first Indian Super League game at the stadium was on 6 November 2014, when the Kerala Blasters FC hosted the FC Goa. It was the first ISL match for the Kerala Blasters. The stadium had an average attendance of over 40,000 for the Indian Super League matches in 2014. The game between Kerala Blasters FC and Chennaiyin FC saw 61,323 spectators on 30 November 2014.
The stadium was the venue for 2013 Santosh Trophy finals.
In popular culture
The famous "Maro Maro" song composed by A.R.Rahman for the Tamil movie Boys directed by Shankar, climax scenes of the Tamil movie Velayudham starring Vijay, Malayalam movie Run Baby Run starring Mohanlal and many other Indian Films were shot in the stadium.ODI Matches held
Indian Premier League
The cricket stadium in Kochi was expected to serve the Chennai Super Kings or the Royal Challengers Bangalore as a home venue apart from Chennai and Bangalore for the initial IPL seasons. However both the franchises initially refused and later promised to reconsider the offer, fearing a decline in revenues. Eventually no matches of the first 3 IPL seasons were played in Kochi.The auction for expanding the initial eight franchises to ten for the 2011 season was held on 22 March 2010. Rendezvous Sports World made the second highest bid of 15333 million, and elected to base its team in Kochi.
The first IPL match held at the stadium was between Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Royal Challengers Bangalore on 9 April 2011. The match was also Kochi Tuskers first ever IPL match.
ODI Records at the Venue
Batting- Highest Total: 321/6 by West Indies vs. India on 8 October 2014.
- Lowest Total: 191 by India vs. Zimbabwe on 13 March 2002.
- Most Runs : Rahul Dravid
- Highest Score: Marlon Samuels 126* runs from 116 balls vs. India on 8 October 2014.
- Average 1st innings total : 273
- Average 2nd innings total : 225
- Most Wickets : Sachin Tendulkar
- Best Bowling : Sachin Tendulkar 5/32
Highest Partnerships by wicket
List of Centuries
Key
- * denotes that the batsman was not out.
- Inns. denotes the number of the innings in the match.
- Balls denotes the number of balls faced in an innings.
- NR denotes that the number of balls was not recorded.
- Parentheses next to the player's score denotes his century number at Edgbaston.
- The column title Date refers to the date the match started.
- The column title Result refers to the player's team result
One Day Internationals
| No. | Score | Player | Team | Balls | Inns. | Opposing team | Date | Result |
| 1 | 105* | Ajay Jadeja | 109 | 1 | 1 April 1998 | Won | ||
| 2 | 115 | Gary Kirsten | 123 | 1 | 9 March 2000 | Won | ||
| 3 | 111 | Herschelle Gibbs | 127 | 1 | 9 March 2000 | Won | ||
| 4 | 108 | Virender Sehwag | 95 | 1 | 2 April 2005 | Won | ||
| 5 | 104 | Rahul Dravid | 139 | 1 | 2 April 2005 | Won | ||
| 6 | 126* | Marlon Samuels | 106 | 1 | 8 October 2014 | Lost |
List of Five Wicket Hauls
Key
One Day Internationals
| No. | Bowler | Date | Team | Opposing team | Inn | Overs | Runs | Wkts | Econ | Batsmen | Result |
| 1 | Sachin Tendulkar | 1 4 1998 | 2 | 10 | 32 |
| Won | ||||
| 2 | Sachin Tendulkar | 2 4 2005 | 2 | 10 | 50 | 5 | Won |
IPL Records at Venue
Highest Partnerships by wicket
Kerala Blasters FC
The stadium is the official home ground for the Kerala Blasters FC in Indian Super League since 2014. Kerala Blasters had won their first ISL home match against FC Goa for 1–0 conducted on 06/11/2014.The game between Kerala Blasters FC and Chennaiyin FC saw 59,323 spectators on 30 November 2014. Kerala Blasters has the highest average attendances for football clubs outside of Europe in domestic league matches.
In the inaugural season of Indian Super League, Kerala Blasters finished fourth in the group stages with 19 points from 14 games and qualified for Semi-final after beating Pune City FC. Kerala Blasters FC was unbeaten in six of their seven home games.
In semi-final which happened to be the last home match of this year for Kerala Blasters FC, Kerala Blasters FC won in emphatic fashion by trouncing toppers Chennaiyin FC with scoreline 3–0. One of the goals was scored by Malayali medio Sushanth Mathew away from 30 yards through a curling long-ranger, shot over renowned footballers Alessandro Nesta and Mikaël Silvestre and it became a proud and memorable moment for sports fans in Kerala. The goal is now competing for top goal of this season.
The opening ceremony of Hero Indian Super League 2017/18 was hosted in the stadium.
Chirag United Club Kerala
The former I-League football team Chirag United Club Kerala played their home matches in the stadium for the 2011–12 I-League season.2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup
On 5 December 2013, the FIFA Executive Committee chaired by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter decided that host of 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be India upon evaluation of bid sent by AIFF with Kochi as one of the eight possible venues. Later, Chief Minister of Kerala Mr.Oommen Chandy stated that they will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Sports Ministry in that regard after an exclusive cabinet meet on the issue. Government has appointed senior IAS officer Mr. APM Mohammed Hanish as Nodal Officer as per Fifa's direction.On December 11, 2014, FIFA team inspected the stadium and emphasised to improve the quality of pitch and need of bucket seats in the second tier of the stadium. With Kochi registering an average crowd of 47,000 for ISL, the city has gathered attention from the authorities in terms of attracting crowd.
On 6 April 2015, AIFF cleared Kochi as one of the venues after receiving FIFA's technical committee report. Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati, Goa and Kolkata are the other venues.
Kerala Strikers
The Celebrity Cricket League team Kerala Strikers played its home matches in the stadium since 2012.Accessibility
The Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium is located in the heart of the city. It lies beside the Banerjee Road between Kaloor and Palarivattom, a common stretch among many city bus routes. The Stadium Link Road from the southern side allows access from Thammanam and Kathrikadavu, although there is no public transport along this route. The stadium is situated at 2.5 km and 5.2 km from the North and South railway stations respectively.All city buses passing through the Kaloor-Palarivattom stretch have a stop at the stadium. The JLN Stadium metro station of the Kochi Metro is situated right in front of the stadium. The presence of a prominent bus stop as well as a metro station makes it a prime location and one which can be easily accessed from any part of the city.