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.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon
• Tweet