The Sheshrao Krushnarao Wankhede Stadium is a cricket stadium in the Indian city of
Mumbai. This ground was built after disputes between the Cricket Club of
India, which owns the
Brabourne Stadium, and the Mumbai Cricket Association over the allocation of tickets for cricket matches. This became severe after the Test between India and
England in 1973. At the initiative of S. K. Wankhede, a politician and the secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association, MCA built the new stadium in South Mumbai near the Churchgate station. It was built in six months and opened in time for the final Test between India and the West Indies in 1975. Since then the Wankhede stadium has taken over from Brabourne Stadium as the main cricketing venue in the city.
The stadium has a capacity of 45,000 and is always in contention to host an international match in India. It has been host to numerous high profile cricket matches in the past, including the match in which Ravi Shastri hit six sixes in an over. The stadium was recently renovated in the build up to host the 2011 Cricket
World Cup Final, in which India defeated
Sri Lanka by 6 wickets.
Early Years
Mumbai, the cricket capital of India, has seen Test matches played at three different grounds. The
Bombay Gymkhana ground hosted the first ever Test in India, in 1933–34 against England. After the world war II, the Cricket Club of India Ltd's Brabourne Stadium – second ground of the city – was used for 17 Tests. However, due to a dispute between the CCI and the Bombay Cricket Association (BCA), the later built the 45000-capacity Wankhede Stadium, less than a mile away from the Brabourne Stadium. It is named after the Association’s President Barrister Seshrao Wankhede in 1974.
Stadium Development
The Wankhede Stadium was built in 1974 and the first Test match played was between India and West Indies from 23 to 28 January 1975. The Stadium was built at a time when only Test Matches were played and with the advent of One Day Cricket and Twenty 20 Cricket, the demands of a Stadium from spectator point of view have totally changed.
Since ICC World Cup Cricket 2011 was to be hosted by India,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and Mumbai was selected to host the final, it was decided to redevelop the Wankhede Stadium to suit the modern facilities and comfort of spectators.
Pitch:
The seaside situation of the Wankhede stadium means that the swing bowlers get a fair amount of assistance during the early part of each day. Pitch has always been a slow turner. Most of the time it is made result oriented. It has traditionally been full of runs, but it does help the spinners during the last couple of days, and in the Test played on the ground, against
Australia in 2005, the ball spun viciously from early on and this, coupled with low bounce, helped India win in under three days even though almost a whole day was lost to rain. The pitch has created many exciting games here with the last test between India and West Indies in 2011 ending in draw with both side tied on equal runs.
Ground Facts And Figures:
- Capacity: 45,000
- Floodlights: Yes
- End names: Garware Pavilion End, Tata End
- Curator: Sudhir Naik.
- The highest Test total at the Wankhede Stadium is 604/6 Dec by the West Indies against India in the 1974/75 season.
- The lowest Test total at the Wankhede Stadium Stadium is 93 by Australia against India in the 2004/05 season.
- The highest partnership at the Wankhede Stadium is 298 by DB Vengsarkar and RJ Shastri for India against Australia in the 1986/87 season.
- The highest ODI total at the Wankhede Stadium is 358/6 by New Zealand against Canada in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
- The lowest ODI total at the Wankhede Stadium is 115 all out by Bangladesh against India in the 1998 season.
- Wankhede Stadium is The Home ground of Mumbai Indians team in DLF Indian Premier League.
