Founding
The CCI was incorporated as a company on 8 November 1933, during the MCC's 1933–34 tour of India, with its registered office in New Delhi. R. E. Grant Govan, the President of the BCCI, became the first President of the club. Anthony de Mello, the Secretary of the BCCI from its inception in 1928 until 1937, also served the secretary of CCI from 1933 to 1937. Sir Nowroji Saklatwala was the first Chairman of club, who served till his death in 1938, who also donated a large sum for construction of pavilion of the staduim. Though the CCI was originally based in New Delhi, Mumbai was chosen as the location of its new ground as Mumbai was considered the home of cricket in India. Brabourne Stadium was built on 90,000 square yards of reclaimed land along Marine Drive near Churchgate railway station in South Mumbai and was India's first permanent sporting venue.
The negotiations for the land for the new cricket ground took place between de Mello and the then Bombay governor Lord Brabourne. The popular story goes that before returning at the end of the meeting, de Mello asked Lord Brabourne : 'Your excellency, which would you prefer to accept from sportsmen, money for your Government, or immortality for yourself?'. Brabourne chose immortality and the CCI was allotted 90,000 square yards at a price of 13.50 per square yard from land reclaimed in the Backbay reclamation scheme. Messrs. Gregson, Batley and King were appointed the architects of the facility and Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. were awarded the contract for construction. The intention of the ground design was such that it be the Lord's of India.
The foundation stone was laid by Lord Brabourne on 22 May 1936. The ground was intended to provide covered accommodation for 35,000 spectators and contain pavilions, tennis courts, and a swimming pool. Frank Tarrant was the first groundsman. The first match was played on the incomplete ground in October 1937 between the CCI and the Spencer Cup XI. The ground was opened on 7 December 1937 by Roger Lumley, then Governor of Bombay, Lord Brabourne now being the Governor of Bengal. The ground was named after Brabourne at the suggestion of the Maharaja of Patiala. On the same day, the CCI XI met the visiting Lord Tennyson's XI in the inaugural first-class match on the ground.
The estimated cost of construction was 18 lakhs (1.8 million) but the actual costs exceeded this by over a third. It took the efforts of Abubhai Jasdenwala, who had succeeded de Mello as the secretary in 1937, and Sir Nowroji Saklatwala, then Chairman of the Tata Group, among others, for the CCI to cover the costs. The Maharaja of Idar paid for the Governor's pavilion, and the Maharaja of Patiala paid for the pavilion that is his namesake. The remaining deficits were paid off from the sale of debentures and from the income from the Bombay Pentangular matches.
Read more about this topic: Brabourne Stadium
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