For a city sometimes described as “sleepy,” Vizag was anything but on the night of 24th March. A tangible electric excitement pervaded the air, voices—sometimes delighted, sometimes disappointed—mingled, festive drumbeats kept thousands awake, despite it being close to midnight, and the city became a living, breathing, celebrating thing. Someone or the other is always saying that cricket in India is a way of life, and if you needed proof of it, you’d simply have to step into the Delhi Capitals (DC) vs Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) match at the ACA VDCA International Stadium in Visakhapatnam last night! As part of the IPL 2025 series, the tournament made a stop at Vizag for the second time in a row, after DC hosted their home games in the city last year as well.
This back-to-back privilege is a treat for any average cricket fan here, especially with the last game being held all the way back in 2019, when Visakhapatnam hosted knockout stages for IPL. Still, Vizag has seen its share of cricket moments that would qualify as a “six.” Take, for instance, the historical knock by MS Dhoni in 2005, in which he smashed 148 runs against arch-rivals Pakistan, or Rohit Sharma’s twin centuries in a Test match between India and South Africa in 2019, or even Virat Kohli’s surpassing of the 10,00 runs mark in ODIs, against the Carribeans in 2018.
All this is to say that the future of cricket in Vizag is seemingly batting on the side of good fortune, and the josh among the local.
