Chronicles of Brabourne — Jonty Rhodes fans to drunk Chris Cairns

Mumbai: Established in 1937, Brabourne Stadium – Cricket Club of India – was the sole venue for international matches before Wankhede Stadium was built in 1974. Currently hosting South Africa for the fixture against Board President XI, the stadium carries a history, seeing many greats play a blinder, pull off sensational records in the premises.

In 1993, Jonty Rhodes (now retired) – one of the best fielders cricket ever saw – found fans in the stadium for a world record of five catches. For the first time, an international cricketer’s name was chanted by at least 20,000 people from the stands.

(Jonty Rhodes, Photo: AFP)

Out of the many funny incidents, former New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns had jumped into the swimming pool of the club in an inebriated state. He was dropped by the then coach Glenn Turner for the decider.

Read: Chris Cairns 'lied and threatened player with bat', court hears

Though the stadium did not witness much international cricket in between, the IPL proved to be a blessing in disguise. It has been hosting the cash-rich league and in 2015, it was also the home turf of Rajasthan Royals.

Also read: Ricky Ponting present when Chris Cairns approached Brendon McCullum

Nonetheless, the stadium is also remembered for visiting teams playing warm-up games, presently what South Africa is doing. Sachin Tendulkar had scored his first double hundred in first-class cricket for Mumbai against Australia in 1998. It was at this very ground where Tendulkar announced his resignation from captaincy in 2000 during a press conference.

It remains to be seen whether the Proteas build any new memory on their current tour.