Brabourne Reborn
By Gaurang
December 1 2009
The last Test played at this historic ground was in 1972-73, and was the first Test match ever broadcast live on TV in Mumbai, then still Bombay. Coincidentally this was the first time I had ever watched live cricket on TV as well.
Though I was only around six years old then, I still recall the scene in my house where a motley crowd had clustered around the black and white TV to watch the event. It was the start of my cricket addiction, and now 37 years later, as Test cricket returns to Brabourne stadium I am feeling very nostalgic.
The stadium itself is evocative of a bygone era, with its Art Deco style pavilion, which matches wonderfully with the many similarly styled buildings on famous Marine Drive. In its day it was one of the wonders of the cricketing world, having not just splendid cricketing facilities, but accommodations for both teams as well as a magnificent Club House for members of the Cricket Club of India or "CCI" to Mumbaikars, with all the amenities one could want, from a perfectly equipped bar, to a swimming pool to cool down after a long day in the field.
And if you were a bowler most likely the long day would have been a hard one, while if you were a batsman, you were more likely to be kicking back after scoring yet another century. A total of 31 centuries have been scored in the 17 Tests played at Brabourne since the West Indies faced India in the first Test back in 1948, evenly distributed between Indian and Foreign players with Indian batsmen scoring 15 and visitors 16. This clearly points towards the placid nature of the pitch regardless of the type of bowling, pace or spin.
Yet some magicians with the ball have been successful too, with the most successful of them being the legendary B.S. Chandrasekhar, who has a haul of 34 wickets at just over 21 runs each on the ground. Others to have done well include pacer bowlers Graham McKenzie of Australia and Ramakant Desai of India. The sea-breeze which blows through the open backed stands, allows for swing and swerve both early and late in the day, and it is not that surprising that despite the placid nature of the pitch, the highest stand for any wicket is just 254 between Tony Grieg and Keith Fletcher for the fourth wicket in 1972-73. India’s best partnership is only 193* between Dilip Sardesai and Hanumant Singh for the seventh wicket against New Zealand in 1965.
In all the results record at Brabourne stands at 17 played, 4 won by India, 2 won by visitors (1 each to West Indies and Australia) and 11 draws. One hopes that in its re-birth the Brabourne stadium pitch will be more lively and provide cricket of a quality to match the majestic façade of this jewel of a cricket stadium.
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India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!
India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!
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Tendulkar is the greatest cricketer of all time
The crowd was also decent for a Test match...and since the capacity is only 30000 or so.. the Stadium looked fuller than if the match were being played at the much larger capacity Wankhede...
the steepness of the stands, makes one feel like one is right on top of the action, compared to most Indian grounds... and the CCI has excellent facilities... If I was in Mumbai...I'd definitely want to check this match out...
India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!
I saw a sign in the crowd.. very appropriate about Sehwag...
"Brabourne Ka Don"...
So much for those coconuts... Sehwag made them into coconut curry...YUMMY!
Quote:Birbal
The crowd was much bigger today... and as news of Sehwag's batting spread...it swelled even larger... by the end of the day it was large enough to be sensed as a presence...just from the constant buzz and noise...
The crowd must have sure enjoyed the fireworks from Indian batsmen, especially Sehwag! They actually seemed reluctant to go leave after stumps were called! Guess they wanted more
![[:wor kid:]](/phorum-5.1.15/mods/smileys/images/13.gif "[:wor kid:]")
India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:12:04:07:48:43 by Max.
The Mumbai crowd is quite knowledgeable they wanted Lanka to bowl couple more overs so Sehwag could reach his TRIPLE century... and become the only player since Bradman to score 300 or more runs in a day of Test cricket...
Of course one must remember that in Bradman's time the overrates were such that he probably faced upwards or 100 overs on that day..
India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!
But it's good to see the placid Brabourne pitch improved to the extent shown in this match. It's done everything a Test pitch should do over the course of 5 days.
Quote:Anil or Max can you upload an image of Brabourne? For a place holder I have Veeru sweeping... which I hope he does in terms of batting records at Brabourne...
Damn! was I clairvoyant or what?...
Too bad we are not playing any Test matches for a long time. There is only an endless series of masala ODI's coming up.
India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!
And glad to see that after grabbing the No. 1 spot at
Brabourne stadium... India have not let it go for over a YEAR...