In the north of Bali, far from the island’s crowded beaches and resort strips, Indonesia is quietly building a statement of intent.
Cricket Indonesia has begun developing the Bali International Oval (BIO), a two-oval complex designed not as a one-off tournament venue, but as the beating heart of the country’s cricket ambitions and its flagship stage for international competition.
A Year-Round Cricket Engine
BIO will feature two full-sized turf ovals, both conceived as year-round, high-performance environments rather than occasional showpieces. At the centre of the project sits the Garuda National Cricket Academy, which will operate as the high-performance hub within the complex.
This is where Indonesia’s senior and age-group teams will train. It is also where visiting international teams, academies, coaches and curators are expected to pass through, turning a corner of North Bali into a regular stop on the global cricket map.
The physical outline is already visible. Both oval footprints have been laid out, with the centre-wicket blocks taking shape. The next stretch of work is the technical, painstaking part: wicket maturation, surface refinement, drainage and irrigation systems, and the installation of specialist ground machinery. High-performance, team and broadcast facilities will follow, giving the venue the infrastructure required to host elite cricket and to beam it out to the world.
A Regional Hub in the Making
Cricket Indonesia’s vision for BIO goes beyond national borders. The complex is being positioned as a potential high-performance hub for the wider Asia-Pacific region, a place where training, sports science, coach education, athlete recovery and tournament operations can sit under one roof.
If it comes together as planned, BIO will not just serve Indonesian cricket. It could become a shared resource for emerging and established cricket nations across the region, a neutral, modern base for camps, series and development programmes.
Sparked by a Bali Moment
The idea for such an ambitious project did not appear in isolation. Its spark came in January 2024, when Bali hosted the Asian Cricket Council Annual General Meeting and Indonesia was formally welcomed into the ACC family. Jay Shah, then ACC President, played a central role in those proceedings.
For Abhiram Singh Yadav, chairman of Cricket Indonesia, that week in Bali carried a message that went beyond a line on a membership roll.
“When the ACC came to Bali in 2024, the message I took away was bigger than membership. Inclusive leadership had opened a pathway for Indonesia. I felt our responsibility was to build the infrastructure that would allow our players to use that opportunity for generations,” Yadav says.
BIO is his answer to that responsibility: concrete, turf and steel as a response to a political and sporting opening.
Building for the Olympic Era
Timing matters. Indonesia is pushing this project as cricket prepares for its return to the Olympic Games, a global expansion that has altered the sport’s horizon for emerging nations.
Cricket Indonesia wants BIO to be more than a training base or a showground. The aim is to create a genuine Olympic pathway for young Indonesian players, a place where an 11-year-old picking up a bat can realistically connect the dots from a local net session to an Olympic tournament.
“The Olympic return changes the imagination of cricket. A young Indonesian should be able to dream not only of international cricket, but of an Olympic pathway. Our infrastructure must be ready for that era,” Yadav says.
The ovals are still maturing, the machinery is still to be installed, and the dressing rooms and broadcast boxes are yet to be fitted out. But the direction is unmistakable: in North Bali, Indonesia is not just laying pitches. It is laying down a challenge to be taken seriously in cricket’s next global chapter.
