The Bombay Gymkhana, established in 1875, is one of the premiere gentlemen clubs in the city of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. Bombay Gymkhana Rugby Club (

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

) are tenants. It is located in the

Fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

area of

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Anglo-Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbour ...

area and was originally built as a British-only club, designed by English architect,

Claude Batley Claude Batley F.R.I.B.A., F.I.A.A., (17 October 1879 in Ipswich – 20 March 1956, Bombay) was an English architect who as practitioner, teacher and President of the Indian Institute of Architects from 1921 to 1923, played an influential role ...

. The Gymkhana's Grounds offers its members various sporting facilities like rugby, football, cricket, swimming, tennis, badminton, squash and also has a fitness centre. It is located at the triangular end of

Azad Maidan Azad Maidan (formerly known as ''Bombay Gymkhana Maidan'') is a triangular-shaped maidan (sports ground) in the city of Mumbai, India. It is located on of land near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station. It is a regular venue for inter-schoo ...

and is in close proximity of

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bombay station code: CSMT ( mainline)/ST (suburban)), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The terminus was ...

. The club regularly conducts sporting events and tournaments for its members and admission to the club is reserved by membership.

Sports

A long building which serves as the lobby,

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

area,

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

court, restaurant and lounge connects the two roads. The region between the building and the lane is a large ground. It is very difficult to get membership into this exclusive club.

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

is played here in the winter months, and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

in the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

months. This used to be major centre for the erstwhile

Bombay Pentangular The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, British India between 1892–93 and 1945–46. At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular. Presidency ...

cricket matches. The ground had the distinction of hosting India's first

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

match on 15 December 1933, captained by

CK Nayudu Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu (31 October 1895 – 14 November 1967), also known as CK, was the first captain of the Indian cricket team in Test matches. He played first-class cricket regularly until 1958, and returned for one last time in ...

. Temporary stands were put up at the ground to accommodate a record crowd of 50,000 people, with tickets selling at five times their usual price. The match is remembered for

Lala Amarnath Lala Amarnath Bharadwaj (11 September 1911 - 5 August 2000) was an Indian cricketer. He scored a century on test debut and became the first player to score a century for the India national cricket team in Test cricket. He was independent India ...

s century, noted to be one of the best innings played in Indian cricket. It hasn't hosted any senior matches since the

Brabourne Stadium The Brabourne Stadium is a cricket ground in Mumbai in Western India, built in the British Bombay era. It was the home ground of the Mumbai men's and women's cricket teams. It can accommodate 50,000 people for sports matches. The ground is ow ...

took its place in 1937, replacing the ground as the venue for the Bombay Pentangular as well as international matches. The ground also has the distinction of hosting the first-ever International Test Cricket match played by the disabled on 10 December 2002. This first-ever Test cricket match of disabled was played between India and England. The match was of one day duration and India had won the match. The

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) a ...

used the grounds to practice prior to their clash with India in the

1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World C ...

. In 2004, the Indian Women's team played a

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

versus the Australian Women's team at Bombay Gymkhana. In March 2010,

Mumbai Indians Mumbai Indians are a franchise cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League and is the most successful team of the tournament with 5 titles. Founded in 2008, the team is owned by India's biggest congl ...

played a practice match at the ground ahead of the IPL Season. Later in the year,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

played a match against a ''Bombay Gymkhana'' team to prepare of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in 2011. The ground also hosts a national

competition, and has recently hosted matches against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and a few other

South Asian South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

teams as a part of the HSBC Sevens Asia circuit. It has also hosted national and international

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

tournaments. Bombay Gymkhana houses three badminton courts, five squash courts, six tennis courts, six tables for billiards and snooker, one swimming pool and a fitness centre. Until a few years ago, only men could gain membership to the club. Women were able to join from the early 2000s.

Road widening controversy

The BMC wants to widen the adjacent Hazarimal Somani Marg from 50 to 80 feet and required about 6000 feet of land from the Bombay Gymkhana. The gymkhana has been contesting the proposal stating its heritage status. The Gymkhana has also been allegedly charged for illegally constructing additional buildings including a CEO's bungalow and a wine shop.

International Centuries

Tests

This is the list of centuries scored in Test matches at Bombay Gymkhana, Mumbai

List of Five Wicket Hauls

Tests

Two five wicket hauls in Test matches have been taken at the venue.

References

External links

Cricinfo Website - Ground PageHSBC Bombay Gymkhana Maharashtra State Open Squash Championship 2006 ResultsClub website

{{Sports Clubs in Mumbai Sports venues in Mumbai Cricket grounds in Maharashtra Clubs and societies in India 1875 establishments in India Test cricket grounds in India Sports venues completed in 1875

Sports

Road widening controversy

International Centuries

Tests

List of Five Wicket Hauls

Tests

See also

References

External links