Wankhede
Stadium is a cricket stadium that was established in 1975. Nobody knew
that a dispute between the Cricket Club of India (CCI) and Mumbai
Cricket Association (MCA) would result into the largest cricket stadium
in Mumbai. In 1973, a dispute over ticket allocations cropped up, after
the test match between India and England. It became so severe that S.K.
Wankhede (a politician and the Secretary of MCA) instantly took the
decision of making a new stadium at Churchgate in South Mumbai (or
Bombay). Nowadays, Wankhede Stadium has ousted Brabourne Stadium in all respects. It has become the main cricket venue in the city and always stands in competition to host an international match in India. With a seating capacity of 45,000 spectators, the coliseum tenders a spectacular sight of cricket. The sports ground has been testimony to the great innings, for instance Gavaskar's 205 and Kallicharan's 187 in the 1978-79 series.
It is the same stadium, which offered the grounds to the laudable events like Ian Botham's century, thirteen wickets in the Jubilee Test and the win of England by ten wickets in 1980. Vinod Kambli is the highest scorer amongst Indian players, with 224 runs at the stadium, while Ravi Shastri had six sixes in an over on this ground in 1984-85. Its fine cricket pitch has been the favorite of spinners with its pace friendly track.
Being close to the sea, the ground proffers spin and bounce to the spinners and swing to fast bowlers. In 1995, Wankhede Stadium was upgraded with lights, to host day and night matches. Subsequently, it made the venue for an India-Australia match in the 1996 Cricket World Cup. The coliseum has been assigned to host the finals of 2011 Cricket World Cup; due to this it would undertake a major renovation.