Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium

Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (abbreviated as the HPCA Stadium) is an international cricket stadium in Dharamshala hill station of Himachal Pradesh, India.

The stadium is the home ground of Himachal Pradesh cricket team, Himachal Pradesh women's cricket team and headquarter of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, the governing body of cricket in Himachal Pradesh state. It hosted 5 matches of 2023 Cricket World Cup, including New Zealand v India. However the Stadium was accused of bad outfield and players played with potential risk of being injured.

Location and history
The stadium served as the home ground for the Himachal Pradesh cricket team for Ranji Trophy matches and other domestic matches. The stadium also hosted some IPL matches as a home stadium for Punjab Kings.

The picturesque venue is unique in India as it is situated at an altitude of 1,457 m above sea level and has  snow-capped Himalayan mountains in the background. Getting to Dharamsala from the nearby Kangra Airport, which is about 8 kilometres away through the hilly terrain and the harsh winters, during which it rains and snows, is a deterrent to organizing regular matches.

Dav Whatmore, the former Director of the National Cricket Academy in India had recommended during his tenure that the stadium is suitable for hosting international cricket matches. The first international team who played in this ground was the Pakistani cricket team, when they played a warm-up match against an India A side in 2005.

The first One Day International (ODI) at this stadium was played between India and England on 27 January 2013. England won the match by 7 wickets. The first Test at this stadium was played between India- Australia on 25–29 March 2017, India won the match.

In November 2015, the stadium was selected as one of the six new Test match venues in India along with the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, JSCA International Stadium Complex, Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Holkar Stadium and Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.

The venue has been used sporadically for IPL matches and due to its high altitude has a reputation for six hitting. Adam Gilchrist became the first player to score a century in the IPL at the HPCA stadium in 2011 against RCB, an innings that included a 122m six off Charl Langeveldt.

ACC Centre of Excellence
In December 2015, Asian Cricket Council decided to set up Centre of Excellence at Dharamshala.

2016 ICC World Twenty20
On 21 July 2015, the BCCI announced the names of the eight cities which would be hosting matches during the 2016 ICC World Twenty20. Dharamshala was announced as one of the eight venues for the event. On 11 December 2015, ICC announced the fixtures of the event where the HPCA Stadium was scheduled to host all the first round Group A matches and a single Super 10 Group 2 match. Originally the marquee India v Pakistan match was scheduled to be hosted by this venue. Due to security concerns for the Pakistani team, the match was moved to Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

2023 ICC World Cup
ICC allocated 5 matches to the stadium, including New Zealand v India. However the Stadium was accused of bad outfield and players played with potential risk of being injured.