The Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi has hosted 12 one-day internationals so far, ten of which have involved India. Of those ten games, India have won six and lost four, but all those four defeats have come since 1989, during which period they’ve only won twice. Pakistan haven’t yet played an ODI at Delhi. (Click here for the results of all one-dayers at Delhi.)
Winning the toss isn’t such a blessing at this venue – the last four matches have all been won by the team which lost the toss.
The last one-dayer played here was more than three years back, in January 2002, but it was a memorable encounter. England batted first and amassed 271, and India fell short by just two runs in an exciting run-chase.
Another game when the team batting first made 271, but the final result was slightly different – India v Sri Lanka, in the 1996 World Cup. Sachin Tendulkar’s 137 helped India to what seemed a competitive total, but it appeared piddly by the time Sanath Jayasuriya was done. He blasted the new-ball bowlers en route to a 76-ball 79, and Sri Lanka cantered home by six wickets. Manoj Prabhakar suffered the most, disappearing for 47 in four overs. He didn’t play another game for India.
Sachin Tendulkar has been fairly prolific at the Feroz Shah Kotla, scoring 232 from five games at 46.40, and an outstanding strike rate of 99.15. Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, India’s two other batting mainstays, have only played a match each here.
Teams chasing have generally done well here, winning seven out of 12 games, and scoring at 5.11 per over, compared to 4.97 for the side batting first. However, those numbers won’t count for much tomorrow, since the match will be played on a newly relaid strip.