Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, India (39,200 capacity) opened in 2003 in the Uppal suburb and is the home of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. When Sunrisers bat first here and post 220 on the board, the visiting team looks up at 39,200 orange-clad fans, looks at a pitch that has offered nothing to their bowlers, and quietly accepts that the next 20 overs will be extremely long.
The capacity of 39,200 makes it one of the larger venues in India, and the stadium’s design prioritizes sightlines. Every seat in the ground has an unobstructed view of the pitch, a feature that older Indian grounds with their awkward angles and pillared stands cannot match. The Deccan Plateau elevation of roughly 500 meters means the air is marginally thinner than at sea-level venues like Chennai and Mumbai, and the ball carries slightly better as a result. The pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium is typically a batsman’s surface in white-ball cricket, with even bounce and minimal lateral movement, though it can offer assistance to reverse swing in the later overs of a Test innings.
Hyderabad’s cricket history is rich. The city produced Mohammed Azharuddin, whose wristy brilliance defined Indian batting in the 1990s, and VVS Laxman, whose elegance at the crease made him one of the most watchable batsmen in cricket history. The Rajiv Gandhi Stadium has hosted memorable internationals since India’s first T20I at the ground in December 2019.
The ground’s location in Uppal, about 15 kilometers from central Hyderabad, means traffic on match days is a challenge. The Hyderabad Metro extension has improved access, but seasoned fans still arrive hours early to avoid the crush. The weather in Hyderabad is hot but less humid than Chennai or Kolkata, making it one of the more comfortable Indian venues for evening cricket.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have shaped the character of the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium as an IPL venue. The franchise’s orange-clad fanbase fills the lower tiers first, creating a wall of color that television cameras return to throughout every broadcast. The ground has been the scene of some of the highest IPL totals in recent seasons, with the 2024 edition seeing Sunrisers post 277 against Mumbai Indians, a score that set records and redefined what was possible in T20 batting. That match, played under the Uppal floodlights with the Deccan sky darkening around the stadium, became one of the defining moments of IPL history.
The stadium also carries domestic significance beyond the IPL. Hyderabad’s Ranji Trophy team, representing a city with a proud first-class tradition, has played here and developed talent that fed into the national setup. Mohammed Siraj, born and raised in the old city of Hyderabad, grew up watching cricket at this ground before becoming one of India’s premier fast bowlers.
In 2026, the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium serves as the home ground for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. The franchise’s aggressive, high-scoring brand of cricket has made them one of the league’s most entertaining teams, and the ground’s batting-friendly conditions perfectly suit their approach.
Hyderabad operates on India Standard Time (IST, UTC+5:30). An IPL evening match at 19:30 IST is 15:00 BST in London, 10:00 AM EDT in New York, and 00:00 midnight AEST in Sydney. Check whatisthetime.now/hyderabad for current local time or whatisthetime.now/country/india for Indian timezone information.