With sporting enthusiasts and cash-rich official authorities, Mumbai has seen great development in sports over the years and has hosted may national and international matches from the world of sports. With stadiums and venues being around for a while, these structures have seen refurbishment over time but there's still room for improvement as India pushes its name in the field of sports.
Here are five stadiums/sporting venues which house the best of the game in Mumbai.
NSCI Dome, Worli
The National Sports Club of India (NSCI) is an institution located right in the centre of the city, on the beautiful seafront, with a posh frontage & turf lawns, The club has history, associated with numerous leaders of free India, who with great vision and foresight formulated the policy of promoting games and sports in the country.
The first NSCI Club was set up in New Delhi in presence of veteran political figures such as Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, amongst eminent sports personalities.
However, NSCI was set up in Mumbai at the present location in 1950. The club had just a clubhouse and a large velodrome named as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel stadium. The foundation stone was laid by Late Y. B. Chavan, First Chief Minister of Maharashtra, on May 17, 1957.
In 2004, the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium was renovated with addition to the sports facilities. Currently, the sports complex hosts prestigious tournaments such as Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Badminton Premier League (BPL), which are among the country's major sporting events.
The Andheri Sports Complex, also known as Shahaji Raje Krida Sankul, is a multi-purpose facility located on Veera Desai Road in Andheri West, Mumbai, India. The complex was built in 1988 at the cost of ₹30 crore for schools that lacked the necessary infrastructure to hold sports meets.
The complex is used for both national and domestic level sports tournaments like squash, boxing, tennis, and karate. The sports complex has an Olympic size swimming pool and a diving pool with 4 diving levels.
More importantly, in 2016, it was redeveloped to include a modern football stadium in accordance with FIFA guidelines and is known as Mumbai Football Arena.
The Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil (D.Y. Patil) Sports Stadium is a football and a cricket stadium located at D. Y. Patil campus at Nerul in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was designed by Hafeez Contractor, who is a Padma Bhushan awardee.
The stadium was officially inaugurated on March 4, 2008, and consists of nine tennis hard courts, four indoor badminton courts, and an Olympic sized swimming pool
Meanwhile, it was shortly the home ground for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians. It hosted three IPL matches for the Mumbai Indians and has also hosted the 2008 Indian Premier League Final and 2010 Indian Premier League Final.
DY Patil Stadium was also briefly the home ground of the Indian Super League (ISL) franchise, Mumbai City FC and served as the same for two seasons. It also hosted the Final of Hero ISL 2014 between Atlético de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters FC.
Later, the stadium also hosted 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. It is said to host the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.
Brabourne Stadium is one of the oldest cricket grounds owned by the Cricket Club of India (CCI) and was the first permanent venue for sports. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Brabourne on May 22, 1936, and was opened on 7 December 1937 by Roger Lumley, the then Governor of Bombay.
This stadium saw 'Master-Blaster' Sachin Tendulkar make his first double century of first-class cricket in 1997-98 in a match between Mumbai and Australia.
In recent times, international cricket has returned to the Brabourne; it played host to the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 and it was the venue for the first Twenty20 International played in India in 2007.
Brabourne hosted a Test match in December 2009 after 36 years, thus creating a record for the biggest gap between two tests at the same ground.
The Wankhede Stadium is a cricket stadium in Mumbai, India. The stadium now has a capacity of 33,108, following renovations for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Before the upgrade, the capacity was approximately 45,000.
The Wankhede has been host to numerous high-profile cricket matches in the past, most notable being the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final, in which India defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets. The stadium even witnessed the last match of Sachin Tendulkar's international career.
Additionally, it has hosted many other matches in both 1996 as well as the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The stadium is also the host to the match in which Ravi Shastri hit six sixes in an over. As of 19 July 2017, it has hosted 25 Tests, 20 ODIs and 5 T20Is.
Every sporting venue has a story of its own to tell and yet, whenever a sportsman/woman steps on the field, they write a new one.
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