The history of the R Premadasa Stadium

Khettarama, in the Maligawatte district north of central Colombo, was low marshy ground before the stadium was built in the 1980s. The project was driven by Ranasinghe Premadasa, then prime minister and later president, who wanted a modern stadium for the capital, and the ground was later named after him.

Opened in 1986, the stadium was a break from Colombo's older club grounds. Instead of a members' pavilion and a few stands, it was a concrete bowl designed for big crowds, built in a working-class area rather than in leafy Cinnamon Gardens.

Locals still often call it Khettarama, after the temple and district nearby, and either name will get you there in a tuk-tuk.

The Premadasa's first Test came in August 1992, against Australia, in a series remembered for a dramatic Australian win at the SSC. In its early years the stadium hosted a mix of Tests and one-day internationals, and it became Sri Lanka's main venue for big limited-overs matches.

The 1996 World Cup, co-hosted by Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan, was a turning point for Sri Lankan cricket, and the team's win in the final in Lahore filled grounds like the Premadasa for years afterwards. One-day cricket became the people's game, and the Premadasa was its home.

Floodlights later turned the stadium into Sri Lanka's day-night venue, and evening matches here are now the loudest occasions in Sri Lankan cricket.

In August 1997, India made 537 for 8 in the first Test at the Premadasa, and Sri Lanka replied with 952 for 6, the highest total in Test history. Sanath Jayasuriya made 340 and Roshan Mahanama 225, adding 576 for the second wicket. The match was a draw, but the record still stands.

The innings sums up the Premadasa's reputation in that era as a slow, flat pitch where batting could go on for days. Later surfaces have been more varied, and in limited-overs cricket the pitch often slows under lights, making chases harder.

A visit is a chance to stand in the ground where the record was made, and a cricket-minded guide can tell the story of those days.

The Premadasa hosted matches at the 1996 and 2011 World Cups, including a 2011 semi-final in which Sri Lanka beat New Zealand. It also staged the final of the 2012 World Twenty20, when West Indies beat Sri Lanka, and Australia's women won their final at the same tournament.

In more recent years it has hosted Asia Cup games, Lanka Premier League matches and matches at World Cups co-hosted with India. Almost every major white-ball tournament Sri Lanka has hosted has come through this ground.

For a visitor, a night match here is the most intense way to see Sri Lankan cricket: drums, trumpets, papare bands, flags and a crowd that does not stop singing.

Outside match days, the stadium's exterior is easy to see from the surrounding roads, and the neighbourhood, with its markets and temples, is an authentic slice of working Colombo. Entry inside on quiet days is at the discretion of staff, so ask politely at the gate.

On match days, arrive early, as traffic around Maligawatte builds hours before the start. A tuk-tuk or a car with a driver who knows the drop-off points is easiest.

Lankan Stays & Trails can build a Colombo day that includes the Premadasa alongside the city's older grounds, and the companion pages cover where to sit and how the stadium compares with others.

Sri Lanka's older grounds tell the story of club cricket and colonial Colombo. The Premadasa tells the story of cricket as a mass game after 1996, played under lights in front of huge, noisy crowds from every part of the city.

Seeing it alongside the SSC and P Sara Oval gives a sense of how far the game has come, from members' pavilions to a 35,000-seat bowl.

For many local fans, the Premadasa is simply where you go to see Sri Lanka play, and a visit, even for an hour, is part of understanding the city.