Located at the heart of India, the Brabourne Stadium is situated in the shining city of Mumbai. Situated in South Mumbai near the Churchgate railway station the stadium is owned by the Cricket Club of India (CCI). From 1948 till 1972, the stadium hosted test matches and Bombay Pentagular matches. Following a dispute between the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) and the CCI, the venue lost out on allotments of international matches but still holds first class matches and warm-up matches for the touring teams.
Construction and Early Years
The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) was formed on 8th November, 1933. Anthony de Mello, the first president of BCCI negotiated with Lord Brabourne, the Governor of Bombay for allotment of land to build a stadium for the association. 90,000 square yards were granted for the stadium and architects started working with the construction company Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. to craft out the stadium.
The foundation stone of the ground was laid on 22nd May, 1936 by Lord Brabourne himself. The ground was planned to accommodate 35,000 spectators and also include a tennis court and a swimming pool along with the pavilion and was completed in 1937. Cricket maestros Vijay Hazare and Vijay Merchant played on the Brabourne stadium giving record performances with the highest individual score being improved 3 times within the first week of December 1943. The stadium has seen 8 glorious years of cricket during the Pentagular tournaments played till 1946-47. Brabourne stadium has hosted test matches beginning from 1948-49 with the first two matches played against West Indies. Other prominent matches played at the venue are the 16 Ranji Trophy finals held from 1938 till 1973 with Bombay winning all 14 matches it took part in.
The Bumpy Ride
The CCI had a jagged relationship with the Bombay Cricket Association (BCA) since the very beginning regarding the seating allotments. For the match against England in 1972, the BCA was informed of no extra allotment of seats which instantiated another brawl with the CCI. The CCI decided to take strict actions and issued a statement to BCA stating that since CCI maintained the ground well by providing abundant funds, further concessions might lead to a revenue loss for the club. The rift between the two seemed to go nowhere and BCA constructed a new stadium under orders of S. K. Wankhede, the President of BCA just a few hundred meters away from the Brabourne stadium. The result was a loss for the Brabourne stadium as from then onwards, except for a few domestic matches no other match was played at the stadium.
In Recent Times
Currently international cricket has returned to the Brabourne Stadium since 1989 beginning with a match between Australia and Pakistan. The venue continues to host a few ODIs since then including warm-up matches with visiting teams and exhibition matches. In 2006, with newly installed floodlights, the stadium also hosted the Champions Trophy finals. The first Twenty20 match against Australia was hosted at the Brabourne stadium. Starting from 2008, the Wankhede stadium is undergoing a renovation giving Brabourne stadium an opportunity to host first class matches until 2010.