ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: PAK vs NED - Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Stats, Records

PAK vs NED ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.

The city of Nizams, Hyderabad, will be hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup for the third time. The ground might be different but the love and affair of the Hyderabadi crowd with the cricket’s most coveted trophy remains the same as it was in 1987 when they hosted their first ever World Cup game at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium.

Hyderabad got a new ground Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal in 2005, in World Cup 2023 the same ground will be hosting 3 league games of the ongoing mega cricket event. This new stadium is situated at Uppal, while the LBS Stadium is close to the city centre. Let's have a look at the history of Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

World Cup matches at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad

Pakistan taking on the inexperienced Netherlands will be the maiden World Cup game to be played in that stadium. RGI, which is also home to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, never hosted the World Cup games. This ground hosted its first ever ODI game in 2005 and Hyderabad was omitted from the 2011 World Cup event played in the sub-continent. Hyderabad got one game in 1987 between New Zealand and Zimbabwe. Blackcaps won the game by 3 runs. This city got one more in the 1996 World Cup where West Indies took on Zimbabwe and won the game by 6 wickets. 

ODI record in Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi Stadium

Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium has hosted only bilateral ODI games. India has played 7 games on the ground and won 4 of them. This stadium has hosted India’s bilateral games against Australia, South Africa, England, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. Out of 7, India played 3 of them against Australia and only once against the rest mentioned. The first ODI was played in 2005 between India and South Africa. The last ODI happened between India and New Zealand in 2023 when Shubman Gill became the latest entry in the ODI double-centuries list. India won a close high-scoring game by just 12 runs. 

Weather & pitch conditions in Hyderabad for PAK vs NED

Weather is likely to remain in favour of a good cricket action between Pakistan and the Netherlands. There are almost nil chances of rain with 0% in precipitation radar and humidity hovering around 40-50% throughout the day on Friday. Temperature will stay around 25 degree celcius minimum at the end of the game to 32 degree celcius maximum during the toss. Hyderabad favours batters with a dry surface as out of 14 ODI innings at RGI Stadium 300 mark has been crossed 5 times. Wicket will be dry and spinners will play a crucial role for both teams. The highest score on this ground is 350, which Australia scored against India in 2009. 

Pakistan have a dominating record against the Dutch side in the World Cup as well as in the ODI format. They both have faced each other twice in the World Cup and Pakistan have dominated the Netherlands in both games. The first meeting happened at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore where Pakistan thrashed them by 8 wickets. Waqar Younis bowled a magnificent spell of 4/26 in 10 overs and was awarded Player of the Match. In 2003 they both took on each other at Paarl where Pakistan again dominated the Netherlands by 97 runs. Mohammad Yousuf was awarded Player of the Match for his 58 runs knock. Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar picked up 3 wickets each.