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Kaloor Stadium | |
_in_2022.jpg) The stadium during anIndian Super League match ofKerala Blasters FC | |
 Interactive map of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | |
| Location | Kaloor, Kochi, India |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 9°59′50″N76°18′04″E / 9.99722°N 76.30111°E /9.99722; 76.30111 |
| Public transit |  J. L. N. Stadium |
| Owner | Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) |
| Operator | Greater Cochin Development Authority |
| Executive suites | 109 |
| Capacity | 41,000[1] |
| Record attendance | 100,000[2] |
| Surface | Riviera bermuda grass |
| Scoreboard | Yes |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1996; 30 years ago (1996) |
| Renovated | 2000, 2017, 2025 |
| Tenants | |
| Active Kerala State Football Team (1997–present) Indian National Football Team (1997– present) Kerala Blasters FC (2014–present) Kerala Blasters FC Reserves (2016—present for selected matches) Forca Kochi FC (2024—present) Previous Indian National Cricket Team (1997–2014) Kerala State Cricket Team (1997–2014) Viva Kerala FC (2002–2012 for selected matches) Kochi Tuskers Kerala (2011) | |
TheJawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, also locally known asKaloor Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium inKochi, Kerala,India, currently used for association football.[3] Opened in 1996, initially it had a capacity for 80,000 to 100,000 spectators, gradually reduced to comply with operational safety, and now seating 41,000 spectators,[4] although it got limited further during2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup underFIFA security guidelines.[5][6][7][8] It is the home ground ofKerala Blasters FC of theIndian Super League (ISL) andForca Kochi FC and hosts various exhibitions, cinema events and political rallies.[9]
The stadium stands are built in acricket serving configuration[10] and allowed it to be known as the "nosiest cricket stadium in the world".[9] The structure features a unique lighting towers system, the first of its kind in India, that provide 2 kWfloodlighting, suitable forHD telecast.[11] Between 1997–2014 it hosted a number of international cricket matches, of which 10 wereOne Day Internationals. While in 2014 theKerala Cricket Association got a hold of a 30-year lease on the venue from theGreater Cochin Development Authority,[10][better source needed] the concurrent same-year move-in of Kerala Blasters saw football tenants becoming paramount.[10] Their crowds recorded the fifth loudest noise in the stadium in the world (128 db) during the 2016 ISL final between Blasters andAtletico de Kolkata.[12] An extensive renovation also occurred[3] before the stadium served as one of the six host venues for 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in India.[13]
The Kaloor Stadium was originally constructed as a cricket stadium. But considering that Kerala is one of the few regions in India where football enjoys considerable popularity it was used for football matches also. Indeed, in a match between India and Iraq in 1997, approximately 100,000 spectators filled up the venue, thus overcrowding it, which remains a record at this place. This was in theNehru 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.[14] The stadium was completed under the watchful eyes of lateV. Joseph Thomas IPS who was the head of theGreater Cochin Development Authority. He was a huge fan of football from his college days atSt. Thomas College, Palai and also served as the patron of the Kerala State Athletics Association.[15] The stadium was inaugurated by thenPresident of IndiaShankar Dayal Sharma in 1996. It has 1.3 kilometres in outer circle.
After 1998, football went down andcricket 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 cricketODI match between India and its arch-rivalPakistan in April 2005. The firstODI played on this ground was between India andAustralia on 1 April 1998.
Kaloor stadium hosted the first match India played afterSachin 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 firstIndian Premier League game at the stadium was on 9 April 2011, when theKochi Tuskers Kerala hosted theRoyal 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 theHolkar Cricket Stadium,Indore. The stadium hosted the semi-final and final of the 2013 Duleep Trophy.
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.[16] Football returned to prominence at the venue after the launch ofIndian Super League in 2014. The stadium is the home ground toKerala Blasters, one of the teams with the most fanbases in theISL. Some of the games involving the home team drew crowds in excess of 55,000 in the inaugural edition.[17]
The firstIndian Super League game at the stadium was on 6 November 2014, when theKerala Blasters FC hosted theFC Goa. It was the first ISL match for the Kerala Blasters. The stadium had an average attendance of over 40,000 for theIndian 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 for2013 Santosh Trophy finals.
Compromised safety features have plagued the stadium more recently, despite a renovation to comply with such in the 2010's. Cricket clubs left for venues likeGreenfield International Stadium. For the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup it was restricted to 29,000 spectators.[6] Later identified issues of deteriorating roof, flawed load-bearing pillars, non-operational smoke detection systems led to non-compliance with the All India Football Federation's Premier 1 license.[10]
The famous "Maro Maro" song composed byA.R. Rahman for the Tamil movieBoys directed byShankar, climax scenes of the Tamil movieVelayudham starringVijay, Malayalam movieRun Baby Run starringMohanlal and many other Indian Films were shot in the stadium.
1 April 1998 Scorecard |
v | ||
A Jadeja 105* (109) MS Kasprowicz 3/50 (8.2 overs) | AC Gilchrist 61 (45) Sachin Tendulkar 5/32 (10 overs) |
India won by 41 runs Umpires: SK Bansal and AV Jayaprakash Player of the match: Sachin Tendulkar (India) |
9 March 2000 Scorecard |
v | ||
Ajay Jadeja 92 (109) WJ Cronje 2/48 (8 overs) | G.Kirsten 115 (123) Rahul Dravid 2/43 (9 overs) |
India won by 3 wickets Umpires: MR Singh and CR Vijayaraghavan Player of the match: A Jadeja (India) |
13 March 2002 Scorecard |
v | ||
Mohammad Kaif 56 (78) Douglas Hondo 4/37 (8.3 overs) | ADR Campbell 71 (119) Ajit Agarkar 2/28 (10 overs) |
Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets Umpires: Vijay Chopra and Devendra Sharma Player of the match: Douglas Hondo |
2 April 2005 Scorecard |
v | ||
Virender Sehwag 108 (95) Arshad Khan 4/33 (6 overs) | Mohammad Hafeez 42 (75) Sachin Tendulkar 5/50 (10 overs) |
India won by 87 runs Umpires: Billy Bowden (New Zealand) and AV Jayaprakash Player of the match:Virender Sehwag |
6 April 2006 Scorecard |
v | ||
Geraint Jones 49 (66) Yuvraj Singh 2/34 (8 overs) |
India won by 4 wickets Umpires: K Hariharan (India) and RE Koertzen (South Africa) Player of the match:Yuvraj Singh |
2 October 2007 Scorecard |
v | ||
MS Dhoni 58 (88) George Hogg 3/40 (9.3 overs) |
Australia won by 84 runs Umpires: SA Bucknor (West Indies) and SL Shastri Player of the match: Bradley Haddin |
17 October 2010 Scorecard |
v | ||
Match abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain. Umpires: Billy Bowden (New Zealand) and AM Saheba (India) |
15 January 2013 Scorecard |
v | ||
MS Dhoni 72 (66) ST Finn 2/51 (10 overs) | Kevin Pietersen 42 (44) B Kumar 3/29 (10 overs) |
India won by 127 runs Umpires: Vineet Kulkarni and Steve Davis Player of the match: Ravindra Jadeja (India) |
21 November 2013 Scorecard |
v | ||
Virat Kohli 86 (84) J Holder 2/48 (8 overs) | DM Bravo 59 (77) R Jadeja 3/37 (10 overs) |
India won by 6 wickets Umpires: VA Kulkarni( India) and RJ Tucker( Australia) Player of the match: Virat Kohli (India) |
8 October 2014 Scorecard |
v | ||
Shikhar Dhawan 68 (92) Marlon Samuels 2/10 (3 overs) | Marlon Samuels 126 (116) Mohammed Shami 4/66 (9 overs) |
West Indies won by 124 runs Umpires: IJ Gould( England) and S Ravi( India) Player of the match: MN Samuels (West Indies) |
The cricket stadium in Kochi was expected to serve theChennai Super Kings or theRoyal Challengers Bangalore as a home venue apart fromChennai andBangalore 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 the2011 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.[18]
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.
9 April 2011 (Scorecard) |
Kochi Tuskers Kerala 161/5 (20 overs) | v | Royal Challengers Bangalore 162/4 (18.4 overs) |
B McCullum 45 (32) D Vettori 1–17 (4 overs) | AB de Villiers 54 (40) R Jadeja 1–28 (4 overs) |
Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 6 wickets Umpires:Kumar Dharmasena (SL) andKrishna Hariharan (Ind) Player of the match: AB de Villiers (Royal Challengers Bangalore) |
18 April 2011 (Scorecard) |
Kochi Tuskers Kerala 135/3 (15 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings 131/4 (17 overs) |
B McCullum 47 (33) R Ashwin 2–31 (4 overs) | SK Raina 50 (40) RV Gomez 1–20 (2 overs) |
Kochi Tuskers Kerala won by 7 wickets (D/L method) Umpires:Krishna Hariharan (Ind) andTony Hill (NZ) Player of the match: BB McCullum (Kochi Tuskers Kerala) |
27 April 2011 (Scorecard) |
Kochi Tuskers Kerala 74 (16.3 overs) | v | Deccan Chargers 129/6 (20 overs) |
Deccan Chargers won by 55 runs Umpires:Kumar Dharmasena (SL) andTony Hill (NZ) Player of the match:Ishant Sharma (Deccan Chargers) |
30 April 2011 (Scorecard) |
Kochi Tuskers Kerala 119 (18.5 overs) | v | Delhi Daredevils 157/7 (20 overs) |
Delhi Daredevils won by 38 runs Umpires:Kumar Dharmasena (SL) andTony Hill (NZ) Player of the match:Virender Sehwag (Delhi Daredevils) |
5 May 2011 (Scorecard) |
Kochi Tuskers Kerala 156/5 (20 overs) | v | Kolkata Knight Riders 139/7 (20 overs) |
Kochi Tuskers Kerala won by 17 runs Umpires:Rod Tucker (Aus) andS. Ravi (Ind) Player of the match:Brad Hodge (Kochi Tuskers Kerala) |
Batting
Bowling
| Wicket | Runs | Team | Players | Opposition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 235 |  South Africa | Gary Kirsten | Herschelle Gibbs |  India |
| 2nd | 76 | India | Rahul Dravid | IK Pathan |  England |
| 3rd | 201 | India | Rahul Dravid | Virender Sehwag |  Pakistan |
| 4th | 165 |  West Indies | Denesh Ramdin | Marlon Samuels | India |
| 5th | 121 | India | HH Kanitkar | Ajay Jadeja |  Australia |
| 6th | 96 | India | MS Dhoni | Ravindra Jadeja | England |
| 7th | 17 | Pakistan | Shahid Afridi | Mohammad Hafeez | India |
| 8th | 25 | India | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Ramesh Powar | Australia |
| 9th | 28 | England | MJ Hoggard | GO Jones | India |
| 10th | 42 | Pakistan | Naved-ul-Hasan | Arshad Khan | India |
| No. | Score | Player | Team | Balls | Inns. | Opposing team | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 105* | Ajay Jadeja | India | 109 | 1 | Australia | 1 April 1998 | Won[19] |
| 2 | 115 | Gary Kirsten | South Africa | 123 | 1 | India | 9 March 2000 | Lost[20] |
| 3 | 111 | Herschelle Gibbs | South Africa | 127 | 1 | India | 9 March 2000 | Lost[20] |
| 4 | 108 | Virender Sehwag | India | 95 | 1 | Pakistan | 2 April 2005 | Won[21] |
| 5 | 104 | Rahul Dravid | India | 139 | 1 | Pakistan | 2 April 2005 | Won[21] |
| 6 | 126* | Marlon Samuels | West Indies | 106 | 1 | India | 8 October 2014 | Lost[22] |
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| † | The bowler wasman of the match |
| ‡ | 10 or more wickets taken in the match |
| § | One of two five-wicket hauls by the bowler in the match |
| Date | Day theTest started orODI was held |
| Inn | Innings in which five-wicket haul was taken |
| Overs | Number ofovers bowled. |
| Runs | Number ofruns conceded |
| Wkts | Number ofwickets taken |
| Econ | Runs conceded per over |
| Batsmen | Batsmen whose wickets were taken |
| Drawn | The match wasdrawn. |
| No. | Bowler | Date | Team | Opposing team | Inn | Overs | Runs | Wkts | Econ | Batsmen | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sachin Tendulkar | 1 April 1998 | India | Australia | 2 | 10 | 32 | 5 | 3.2 | Won[19] | |
| 2 | Sachin Tendulkar | 2 April 2005 | India | Pakistan | 2 | 10 | 50 | 5 | 5 | Won[21] |
| Wicket | Runs | Team | Players | Opposition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 80 | Kochi Tuskers Kerala | Brendon McCullum | V.V.S.Laxman | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| 2nd | 51 | Kochi Tuskers Kerala | Brendon McCullum | P Patel | Chennai Super Kings |
| 3rd | 51 | Kochi Tuskers Kerala | Klinger | M Jayawardene | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| 4th | 90 | Deccan Chargers | CL White | KC Sangakkara | Kochi Tuskers Kerala |
| 5th | 41 | Delhi Daredevils | Virender Sehwag | TR Birt | Kochi Tuskers Kerala |
| 6th | 22* | Kochi Tuskers Kerala | Brad Hodge | R Gomez | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| 7th | 36 | Kochi Tuskers Kerala | RA Jadeja | NLTC Perera | Deccan Chargers |
| 8th | 26 | Kochi Tuskers Kerala | RA Jadeja | R Vinay Kumar | Deccan Chargers |
| 9th | 1 | Kochi Tuskers Kerala | R Vinay Kumar | S Sreesanth | Deccan Chargers |
| 10th | 1 | Kochi Tuskers Kerala | R P Singh | R Vinay Kumar | Delhi Daredevils |
The stadium is the official home ground for theKerala Blasters FC inIndian Super League since 2014. Kerala Blasters had won their first ISL home match against FC Goa for 1–0 conducted on 6 November 2014.
The game betweenKerala Blasters FC andChennaiyin FC saw 61,234 spectators on 30 November 2014.Kerala Blasters had the highest average attendance (47,427) for football clubs outside of Europe in domestic league matches, at that time.[23]
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 midfielderSushanth Mathew away from 30 yards through a curling long-ranger, shot over renowned footballersAlessandro Nesta andMikaël Silvestre and it became a proud and memorable moment for sports fans in Kerala.[24] The opening ceremony of HeroIndian Super League 2017/18 was hosted in the stadium.
The formerI-Leaguefootball teamViva Kerala FC (Chirag United Club Kerala) played their home matches for the2011–12 I-League season and also selected matches at the venue.
On 5 December 2013, theFIFA Executive Committee chaired by FIFA PresidentJoseph S. Blatter decided that host of 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be India[25] upon evaluation of bid sent byAIFF with Kochi as one of the eight possible venues.[26] Later, Chief Minister of Kerala Mr.Oommen Chandy stated that they will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sports Ministry in that regard after an exclusive cabinet meet on the issue.[27] Government has appointed senior IAS officer Mr. APM Mohammed Hanish as Nodal Officer as per Fifa's direction.[28]
On 11 December 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.[13]
The stadium is the home ground of theSuper League Kerala clubForca Kochi FC since 2024.
TheCelebrity Cricket League teamKerala Strikers played its home matches in the stadium since 2012 upon till 2016.
The Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium is located in the heart of the city. It lies beside the Banerjee Road betweenKaloor andPalarivattom, a common stretch among many city bus routes. The Stadium Link Road from the southern side allows access fromThammanam andKathrikadavu, although there is no public transport along this route. The stadium is situated at 2.5 and 5.2 km (1.6 and 3.2 mi) from theNorth (Town) andSouth (Junction) railway stations respectively.
All city buses passing through theKaloor-Palarivattom stretch have a stop at the stadium. TheJLN Stadium metro station of theKochi 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.
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