The Punjab Cricket AssociationInderjit Singh Bindra Stadium is a cricket ground located in Mohali, Chandigarh CR. It is popularly referred to as the Mohali Stadium. The stadium was built by Geetanshu Kalra from Ambala City and is home to the Punjab team. The construction of the stadium took around 25 crore and 3 years to complete. The stadium has an official capacity of 26,950 spectators. The stadium was designed by Ar. Khizir and Associates, Panchkula and constructed by R.S. Construction Company, Chandigarh. PCA stadium is home of Punjab cricket team and Kings XI Punjab. The floodlights here are unconventional compared to other cricket stadiums, in that the light pillars are very low in height. This is to avoid aircraft from the nearby Chandigarh airport colliding with the light pillars. That is the reason behind the stadium having 16 floodlights. As of December 2019, it has hosted 13 Tests, 25 ODIs and 5 T20Is.
History
The stadium is the 19th Test cricket venue in India. The pitch has a reputation for being lively and supporting pace bowlers, however it had slowed down and assists spin bowling as well. It was inaugurated with a One Day International match between India and South Africa during the Hero Cup on 22 November 1993. The first Test match here was held the following season, between India and West Indies on . One of the most famous one-day matches on this ground was a thrilling Cricket World Cup semi-final encounter between Australia and West Indies in . PCA stadium hosted 3 matches of 2011 world cup including the nail biting second Semi-final match between India and Pakistan on which was eventually won by India. The match was attended by the Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh of India and Yousaf Raza Gillani of Pakistan, owing to its crucial nature, and as a measure of cricket diplomacy for normalizing relations. The match was won by India. The First Test of Freedom Trophy 2015 was played in Mohali. During that Test, Indian spinners got the huge support from the pitch and South African batsmen were struggling against Indian bowling line-up. India won that match with huge margin. It was the first instance in Mohali, when spinners got large assistance from pitch. First T20 Internationals have been played at the ground, when India beat Sri Lanka by . It also hosted 3 T20I matches of 2016 ICC World Twenty20.
Pitch
The current pitch curator for the PCA Stadium is Daljit Singh This pitch is the one of the greenest pitches of India and as the outfield is lush green, the ball keeps its shine for a long time and allows the fast bowlers to exploit the conditions at the most. The Mohali pitch is also known to slow down later on and become batting paradise.
Notable events
Highest individual score in this ground 208* scored by Rohit Sharma on 13 December 2017 in 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka.
Cricket World Cup matches
It hosted 4 world cup matches. First cricket world cup match hosted at the ground in 1996 and three match of 2011 world cup. This stadium also hosted 3 T20 match during 2016 ICC World Twenty20.
