ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: A cricket enthusiast’s guide to Pune

The Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium, which opened in 2012, is located in Gahunje village, off the Mumbai-Pune expressway. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

To watch a Cricket World Cup match in Pune, you’ll need to travel or hover around the edge of the city — and it will be well worth your time, for more reasons than one. The Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium, which opened in 2012, is located in Gahunje village, off the Mumbai-Pune expressway — easily an hour’s drive from the city’s most buzzing neighbourhoods. But it is a state-of-the-art 37,000 seater facility, with its own bit of history: It was designed by the late English architect Michael Hopkins, who had also built the Mound stand at Lord’s and the 2012 Olympic velodrome.

And yet, those vibrant neighbourhoods of Pune will call to you. Especially now, when this lovely green city, for long known as a student’s and retirees’ destination, is singing with new life. There is much to do and see, a lot to savour for the first time visitor — but even for repeat visitors, the city’s rising culinary scene has much to offer. Bookmark these places to see and do, eat and drink at, if you find yourself in Pune this Cricket World Cup season.

What to see and do  

A day trip to Sinhagad Fort and an afternoon at the Pune Okayama Friendship garden is almost par for the course. But Pune also has an abundance of quirky private museums. Cricket fiends who mean business might well start with a visit to the Blades of Glory museum — where former U-19 Maharashtra cricket player Rohan Pate’s collection of memorabilia is housed.

More culturally inclined folk could swing by Zapurza Museum of Art & Culture to take in an astutely built collection of the jewellery and textiles of Maharashtra — their paithani showcase is something to write home about. And beloved to the locals is the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, which holds 22,000 craft and textile artefacts that embody everyday life in Maharashtra. The Vikram Pendse Cycle Museum, also a private initiative, features over 150 bicycles, tricycles, tandems and such mechanical vehicles collected over a century.

Where to eat and drink   

Much has been said about Pune’s exciting culinary scene; where celebrity chefs, mixologists and brewers have come together to give patrons with finer palates a taste of the good time. Those interested in fine dining can head to Amninder Sandhu’s Nora at Dhole Patil Road for modern Indian (and excellent butter chicken); Soy Como Soy in Kalyani Nagar and the Koregaon Park rooftop restaurant Tsuki for delectable pan-Asian; and Living Room by Coco in Koregaon Park for a satisfying drunch of sourdough toast, pizza and cocktails.

Also for cocktail lovers, the bartenders at Elephant & Co, Malaka Spice, Cobbler & Crew, Juju, One World — The Coffee Studio are all whipping up pure magic. Pune is known as beer country, so how could you not visit one of its many breweries — the OG Effingut, Doolally, IBC, Great State Aleworks, Babylon Craft Brewery or The First Brewhouse? Also check out the schedule at High Spirits, a Puneri institution, if you care to sample some live indie music with your poison.

For day time hunger pangs, few things can beat the taste of Pune’s local foods in local historic joints. Head to Vaishali for the crispest dosas; Bedekar, Newali or Rupesh for finger-licking-good misal pao; Kayani Bakery for the best Shrewsbury cookies and Khodayar for superb tea cakes. And you can’t leave the city without a taste of the 4 am pohe at Nal Stop.

ICC Cricket World Cup matches in Pune in October and November 2023:
October 19: India vs Bangladesh, 2 pm

October 30: Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, 2 pm

November 1: New Zealand vs South Africa, 2 pm

November 8: England vs Netherlands, 2 pm

November 11: Australia vs Bangladesh, 10.30 am