OPINION
Follow UsSo ‘India ka tyohaar’ is back!
Incidentally, it was in 2015 that this tagline had been christened, the same year in which the Brabourne Stadium last hosted an Indian Premier League (IPL) game.
Thanks to the COVID restrictions, in a bid to minimise travel, IPL returns to one of India’s most iconic stadiums after a gap of seven years. The Cricket Club of India (CCI) which houses the Brabourne has a rich and interesting history. Legacy has it that Maharaja of Patiala was denied entry into a separate enclosure during a match at the Bombay Gymkhana and this prompted him to envision the stadium.
“Yeh jangal mein chaman banayenge and Lord's will look mediocre" (We'll build a monument in this jungle and Lord's will look mediocre), were the words of Maharaja of Patiala to Maharawal Lakshman Singhji.
The foundation stones were laid by Lord Brabourne (after whom the stadium is named) on May 22, 1936. Since its establishment in 1937, the stadium enjoyed a premium status in the country. About the stadium, Lord Brabourne had himself said, “We may have the Lord’s, that will forever be the home of this great game but going around, you will not find a Cricketing Paradise as this.”
Right from Bombay Pentangulars to Tests it witnessed cricketing stars from all over the world perform with the Arabian sea in vicinity. It was at this stadium that a 56-year old Col. CK Nayudu had brushed aside blood on his mouth caused by a bouncer from Dattu Phadkar and continued his innings. There are many more legendary stories about matches played here. “Where else can you get off your four-poster bed and step straight into the playing arena?”, stated Tiger Pataudi once about this ground which he liked a lot.
This coveted status continued till about 1974.
It all changed with the construction of the Wankhede Stadium barely a kilometre away. The reason behind this new stadium was a feud between the Bombay Cricket Association (BCA – now Mumbai Cricket Association) and the CCI.
The BCA ran cricket fixtures in the city but the control of Brabourne rested with the CCI. More often than not, the two bodies fought over the distribution of tickets. After the 1973 Test between India and England, SK Wankhede the then secretary of BCA decided to take things into his hand and have a stadium that would be owned by the cricket association.
As a result, since 1974, the Brabourne got very limited matches of prominence. Of course, the only Test that it has hosted since the Wankhede came up is remembered by everyone thanks to Virender Sehwag’s swashbuckling knock of 293.
Nevertheless, it does occupy a prominent spot in the history of Indian cricket. And it did no harm to that rich legacy by having the great Sachin Tendulkar to do the bell-ringing ceremony at the start of the India-West Indies ODI in 2018. Fans would recall that it was at this very venue that Tendulkar had scored his maiden first-class double century (playing for Mumbai against Australia in 1998).
The CCI itself does provide a lot to a cricket connoisseur. Be it Polly’s bar (named after Polly Umrigar) or The Anandji Dossa Library, there is a gold mine of cricket artefacts and photos. The one thing missing, which even CCI’s former president Raj Singh Dungarpur wanted was a cricket museum. Something for the authorities to ponder upon.
Coming back to IPL and the Brabourne, people would be more interested in the 22-yards stretch at the centre than anything else. They can take respite in what Australian Keith Miller once wrote, “It’s not just for its setting and amenities do I remember with affection this cricket paradise at Bombay. It has also one of the best batting wickets in the world.”
The average first innings score of 180 (in eleven games) does indicate that years after Miller’s statement it still continues to favour the willow. So, while the batters can plan to have a party at the Cricket Club of India, the bowlers and fielders are in for a leather hunt.
