Eight cricket pitches at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan will return to affiliated clubs after a nine-year disruption caused by construction work for Metro 3, restoring playing capacity at one of the city’s most important sporting grounds.
The pitches being handed back belong to RBI, St Xavier’s, Young Friends Union, Young Muslim, Muslim United, Kila Court, Bohra Cricket Club and John Bright. The Mumbai Cricket Association has renovated the pitches and outfield ahead of a ground equipment handover and inauguration function at the Young Muslim plot on Sunday.
The event is scheduled for 8.45 am and will be attended by MCA president Ajinkya Naik, secretaries Unmesh Khanvilkar and Nilesh Bhosle, and members of the association’s apex council. The restoration was carried out by MCA maidan co-ordinator and apex council member Nadim Memon, along with curator Pramod Yadav.
Azad Maidan has 22 cricket clubs, but 16 plots were affected after the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority took over sections of the ground for Metro 3 construction in 2017. The construction reduced the ground’s capacity from 22 games at a time to nearly half, according to the report.
The eight clubs receiving their pitches back include some institutions with histories extending beyond a century. The ground hosts major competitions such as the Harris and Giles Shield inter-school tournaments, the Kanga League and the Times Shield. It has also been a training ground for prominent Mumbai and Indian cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan.
Naik said the MCA’s priority was to strengthen grassroots cricket by improving facilities and supporting maidan clubs that develop the next generation of players. The restoration therefore affects more than the immediate return of eight playing plots: it also reopens space used for regular club, school and league cricket in central Mumbai.
Memon said the pitches and outfield had been covered with debris and construction material during the Metro work, making restoration difficult. He described the return of the eight pitches to playing condition as the result of continuous efforts by the MCA maidan committee, ground staff and others involved in the redevelopment.
The handover follows the completion of the relevant Metro works and marks the return of cricket activity to the eight plots. The MCA’s scheduled function on Sunday is the next formal milestone in the reopening of the renovated pitches.
