Wankhede Stadium is Mumbai's largest cricket stadium, located on D. Road, Churchgate, close to the Arabian Sea coast. The stadium was built by the Mumbai Cricket association, as they had no stadium of their own, where test cricket and other cricket matches could be held. The association hired a plot that was granted on lease by the Maharashtra Government.
On 15 the May, 1972, Shri S. K. Wankhede laid the foundation stone of the stadium after which the stadium was named after him. Wankhede Stadium's club house was opened on 25 th October, 1974. Finally the stadium was opened to the public on 21st June, 1975.
Wankhede cricket stadium is surrounded with floodlights and can accommodate 45,000 visitors. Garware Pavilion End and Tata End are the two end names of the ground. There are several cricket matches held on this ground regularly. The first international test series was played between West Indies and India in the year 1975. The ground hosted the first international one day match between Sri Lanka and India in 1987. There are 17 test matches and 11 one day internationals hosted on this cricket ground in Mumbai. The stadium has witnessed a number of victories and records made by great players like Gavaskar, Clive Lloyd, Kallicharan, Ian Botham, Vinod Kambli and Ravi Shastri.
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As the stadium is near the sea, it is quite an advantage to the swing bowlers, especially during the first half of the day. At this stadium, one will find stands of popular cricketers of Mumbai like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Vijay Merchant.
Some of the countries that have played with India at the Wankhede Stadium are:
- West Indies
- England
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Australia
- South africa
- Sri Lanka
Batsman Scoring Centuries at the Wankhede Stadium are:
- Sachin Tendulkar (India)
- Sourav Ganguly (India)
- Ravi Shastri (India)
- Kambli (India)
- Vengsarkar (India)
- V.Richards ( West Indies)
- Botham (England)
- Lloyds (Wewt Indies)
- Kambli (India)
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