Venue Description:
Owned by the Cricket Club of India (CCI), Brabourne Stadium is India's first permanent sporting venue. Established in 1937, the stadium was built on reclaimed land along the Marine Drive in South Mumbai. It is named after Lord Brabourne, then the Governor of Bombay. The story goes that the land was presented to the CCI after Lord Brabourne was wooed by an offer of immortality for this piece of land. On May 22, 1936, the foundation stone was laid by Lord Brabourne. On December 7 next year, the CCI XI played the visiting Lord Tennyson's XI to officially inaugurate the ground.
Due to constant ticketing disputes with the CCI, the Bombay Cricket Association (BCA) built the famous Wankhede Stadium around 700 metres away from Brabourne stadium. After that, the stadium was only used for first-class matches and Test matches were played at the Wankhede. However, in recent years, international cricket has made a way back to the stadium. The ground played host to 5 Champions Trophy games in 2006, including the final. The first T20 International in India, between India and Australia, was also played here. In 2009, the stadium hosted its first Test match in 36 years, when India locked horns with Sri Lanka, a game that the hosts won by an innings and 24 runs. Many of the ICC Women's World Cup 2013 matches also took place here.
The Brabourne stadium was the home venue of Mumbai Indians in 2010. The ground was used for all the seven home games in IPL-3, since Wankhede Stadium was unavailable as it was being refurbished for the 2011 World Cup. In 2014, IPL returned to the ground after a gap of 3 years, when the eliminator match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings was played at this venue. Apart from cricket, the ground has been used for several other events that include tennis and football matches, political events, and music concerts among others.
How does the pitch play?
The pitch usually plays well throughout and is considered good for batting. From time to time, the pitch offers some slow turn as well. In 2010, Mumbai Indians turned the Brabourne Stadium into a fortress of sorts, winning 6 of their 7 home games here. In the 2014 eliminator, Mumbai Indians made 173 in their innings and Chennai Super Kings chased it down easily in the 19th over, with 7 wickets in hand.
Interesting facts related to the Brabourne Stadium:
In 1997-98, in a tour game between Mumbai and Australia, Sachin Tendulkar scored his first double hundred in first-class cricket, helping Mumbai beat the fancied Australians.
The headquarters of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was located at the Brabourne Stadium till 2006. In fact, the 1983 World Cup trophy was also kept here. However, the headquarters as well as the trophy were moved to the Wankhede Stadium after 2006.
by Sidhant Maheshwari
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