International cricket is all in readiness of returning to Chennai for the first time in the last 25 months as the city will be hosting the third India-Australia ODI on Wednesday.
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Slated to be an ODI at the MA Chidambaram after 39 months, a series-deciding fixture should be a delight to watch for plentiful ardent cricketing fans who are leaving no stone unturned to book tickets at the earliest.
India, who have participated in 13 out of the 22 ODIs played at this stadium, have won seven and lost five matches over the years. Australia, who will be playing their first ODI at this venue since 2017, have a tremendous record here on the back of winning four and losing one out of their five matches here thus far.
Chidambaram Stadium ODI records
Highest run-scorers in Chennai ODIs are Mahendra Singh Dhoni (401), Virat Kohli (283), Yuvraj Singh (257), Geoff Marsh (246) and AB de Villiers (220). Barring Kohli, Shimron Hetmyer (139), Manoj Tiwary (104) and Shai Hope (102), not many active cricketers have been able to score more than 100 ODI runs here.
Indian cricketer Virat Kohli arrives at Chennai airport ahead of final ODI match against Australia in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/QTJt98jgpu
— TOIChennai (@TOIChennai) March 20, 2023
If truth be told, India captain Rohit Sharma’s 110 runs across five innings have come at a substandard average of 22. On the other hand, the likes of Hardik Pandya (83), Rishabh Pant (71) and Shreyas Iyer (70) have scored a half-century each in their only ODI in this city.
Highest wicket-takers in ODIs played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium are Mohammad Rafique (8), Ajit Agarkar (7), Morne Morkel (7), Harbhajan Singh (7) and Simon O’Donnell (6).
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (6), Ravichandran Ashwin (5) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3) have dismissed batters at this stadium but neither of them is expected to play on the day after tomorrow. While Kumar and Ashwin are not part of the current squad ODI, Chahal is expected to not make it to the Playing XI. India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (3), spinner Kuldeep Yadav (2) and vice-captain Pandya (2) have picked more than one ODI wicket at this venue.
As far as the Australian players part of the current squad are concerned, Glenn Maxwell (39), David Warner (25), Adam Zampa (5 & 1/66), Travis Head (5), Marcus Stoinis (3 & 2/54), Steven Smith (1) had all played the ODI at this venue in 2017.
Chennai ODI records and highest innings totals
| Score | Overs | Team | Opposition | Year |
| 337/7 | 50 | Asia XI | Africa XI | 2007 |
| 331/8 | 50 | Asia XI | Africa XI | 2007 |
| 327/5 | 50 | Pakistan | India | 1997 |
| 318/7 | 50 | Africa XI | Asia XI | 2007 |
| 306 | 49.5 | Africa XI | Asia XI | 2007 |
The above mentioned are the only five instances of teams scoring in excess of 300 runs in an ODI innings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
It is noteworthy that teams batting first have won 13 Chennai ODIs as compared to eight victories by teams chasing a target. It was in the last ODI at this venue when West Indies had chased down a 288-run target without much discomfort against India to register the highest successful ODI run-chase here.
