2023 ICC World Cup venues | M.A. Chidambaram Stadium — capacity, pitch info and all you need to know

All you need to know about the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai that will host 5 ICC ODI World Cup matches

The M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai will host five matches, including India’s opening game against Australia on October 8. The last match at the venue, featuring South Africa and Pakistan, will be held on October 27. Incidentally, India and Australia met at the same venue for their first match of the Reliance ODI World Cup in 1987. It was also the first ever ODI in Chennai, then Madras, which India lost by a run. Thirty-six years later, as Chepauk gears up to play host to the 2023 ODI World Cup, Sportstar caught up with Prasanna Kannan, Tamil Nadu Premier League CEO, to get the lowdown on the prep work.

If you are planning to watch a game in Chennai during the World Cup, here’s all you need to know:

The stadium capacity is 38,175. Approximately 970 seats are unavailable due to camera stands, pillars, and sight screens, leaving a total capacity of around 37,000. Of these, approximately 1,800–2,000 are reserved for ICC sponsors (complimentary) and guests for the World Cup, while BCCI reserves around 700–800. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association generally allocates around 7,500 complimentary tickets for clubs, government departments, cricketers, former office bearers, and current office bearers, with a quota system in place. There are around 25,000 public tickets available for sale, of which BCCI and ICC have reserved around 6,000 for internal sales. TNCA has to also cater to Madras Cricket Club (MCC) and Madras Race Club (MRC), which accounts for about 3000 tickets. There is also a TNCA option to buy for members in the F, G, and H upper stands, leaving around 13,000 tickets available for purchase by the general public. These are sold in two ways. One by ICC outside India for foreign fans, and through BookMyShow in India.

At MAC B, matting was installed on identified pitches for lower division practice as the nets and structures were old and needed to be reinstalled. A high-transmission power line was opted for, and trenches were dug and wires laid for the installation of a transformer near the older indoor nets. Wiring was laid across the stadium, and hence the Pattabhiraman gate is currently shut. But it will open for the World Cup. However, the transformer won’t be operational until the end of December. A study is being conducted to determine whether having an entry gate via Pattabhiraman and an exit via A. G. Ram Singh will ease traffic flow.

Minor works are also being carried out inside the stadium, including the installation of showers in the umpire’s room and a change of some mats in the washrooms. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) code mandates one washroom for approximately 110 people, but there are more on offer here. Although there is no exact number of washrooms available for each stand since the capacity of each stand varies, approximately one toilet for every 70 people is likely to be maintained.

The floodlights have been replaced with LED lights in MAC A and MAC B stadiums due to the old metallurgy lamps going out of production and the high cost of replacement bulbs. The LED lights achieve better uniformity of light and reduce energy consumption by 40–50%.

During testing, an illuminance of around 4000 lux was achieved at the centre of the ground and 1800–1900 lux at the boundary, which is higher than the production perspective of 3000 and 1500 lux respectively. There is no specific standard for lights, but the ICC issued a standard in 2008–2009 from the players’ perspective, which is 1500 lux in the centre and 800 lux at the boundary. Even for 4K resolution during IPL, these lights should be enough to provide quality. LED lights give uniformity, and the current roof is made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fabric, so it cannot handle any weight. Therefore, a setup like the one in Ahmedabad, which has a ring of lights mounted along the rim of the roof, is out of the question.