Mumbai has many playgrounds with rich histories which have gone down into the folklore of Indian cricket.
After Bangladesh’s last group stage game against Australia in Pune, it was time for myself to experience Mumbai targeting the first World Cup semi-final between hosts India and New Zealand.
The match was to be played at the famous Wankhede Stadium but some other fields like Shivaji Park and Azad Maidan were in my mind to visit, particularly after reading the autobiography of the great Sachin Tendulkar – ‘Playing it my way’.
These grounds hold a special place in the hearts of the young cricketers who dream of becoming a professional player one day.
The journey by road from Pune to Mumbai via Expressway was an enjoyable one as it went between the scenic Sahyadri mountain range through passes and tunnels.
After reaching Mumbai, our workplace for the next few days ahead of the semi-final was Wankhede Stadium media center.
While heading to the Wankhede on our second day in the city, our Uber driver was going through the adjacent road of another famous place, Oval Ground.
The oval-shaped ground, an area of more than 20 acres, looks beautiful from afar with the Mumbai High Court building at the backdrop.
Young players were seen practicing in various nets in their whites at the Oval ground beside one of the busy roads of Mumbai city.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India office is situated at the Wankhede and the stadium is truly well-decorated.
In the history of Indian cricket, the Wankhede is iconic in many ways.
Tendulkar’s last international match was played here while India clinched their epic World Cup win at this stadium back in 2011.
This venue is also the home ground of Mumbai Indians who have won five Indian Premier League titles.
And after the semi-final, the stadium again went into the history books again as modern-day great Virat Kohli scored his record breaking 50th One Day International century leapfrogging Tendulkar’s 49.
Recently a statue of Tendulkar was inaugurated in the stadium.
There are also two galleries named after the two legends - Sunil Gavaskar Stand and Sachin Tendulkar Stand.
New Zealand team were practicing in the evening session last Monday when I was roaming around the ground just out the boundary line at the Wankhede.
At one corner of the gallery, I noticed two seats framed with a replica of the World Cup trophy.
These are the sits where the ball landed when Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed that World Cup final winning six over long on.
The ball landed in this gallery some 15 rows back and the stadium framed those two sits as memorabilia.
Azad Maidan (ground) is another iconic playground in Mumbai that piqued my interest.
Azad Maidan, witness to many records, hosts many games throughout the year, including inter-school and club matches.
There are around 22 cricket pitches at Azad Maidan.
A notable record in this ground was Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli’s 664-run gargantuan partnership during a Harris Shield school match back in 1988.
In 2009, Sarfaraz Khan clubbed 439 runs while in more recent times, Prithvi Shaw created history with 546 runs on November 20, 2013, both in the same tournament.
Another famous playground is the Shivaji Park Maidan.
Many legendary players trained here in their early days, including master blaster Tendulkar.
Tendulkar was trained by the renowned coach Ramakant Achrekar at this ground in his teenage days.
Sachin’s big brother, Ajit Tendulkar, took the little master to Achrekar's cricket summer camp at Shivaji Park.
History says Tendulkar was uncomfortable in the first trial session with Achrekar left unimpressed.
Ajit requested Achrekar to give Tendulkar one more chance as he was nervous and had never batted in the nets before and also with so many players practicing at the huge ground.
Later Achrekar gave Tendulkar another opportunity and he pretended to go away.
He saw Tendulkar’s second trial from distance and this time, he was timing the ball well and Achrekar was impressed immediately.
Achrekar sensed the sheer talent from a teenage prodigy and agreed to let him join the camp and the rest, as they say, is history.
Shivaji Park Maidan was around a 45-minute drive via Uber through the busy roads of Mumbai City from Wankhede Stadium.
When I entered the ground Tuesday afternoon, there were 500 to 600 young players practicing in the nets in various corners.
Many great players apart from Tendulkar were nurtured at this famous ground.
Some of the names are Ajit Wadekar, Vijay Manjrekar, Eknath Solkar, Chandrakant Pandit, Lalchand Rajput, Sandeep Patil, Ajit Agarkar, Pravin Amre, Kambli, Ajinkya Rahane and Shaw, among others.
It was an enjoyable afternoon at the Shivaji Park seeing the teenagers training hard to pursue their dreams.
When I started towards one of the exit points of Shivaji Park to catch the press conference of India skipper Rohit Sharma at the Wankhede on the eve of the semi-final, the sun was going down and the daylight fading away.
But the dream of becoming a first-class cricket player and possibly wearing the national team jersey one day was glowing bright among hundreds of kids and teenagers in that famous ground.
