The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai played host to an international match for the first time in an India-West Indies Test match in January 1975 with the visitors scoring a 201-run win.
The first ODI was played 12 years later on January 17, 1987, when India hosted Sri Lanka in the fifth and final ODI of a bilateral series. The hosts scored a thrilling 10-run win over their numbers and pocketed the series 4-1.
Homeboy Sunil Gavaskar was a common feature in both Wankhede Stadium’s Test and ODI debut.
In between its Test and ODI debut, the iconic venue played host to a Women’s Test match between India and Australia in February 1984 which ended in a draw.
The T20I debut came in 2012 with an India-England contest which the visitors won by six wickets.
Wankhede Stadium has hosted a total of 28 Test matches, including two Women’s Tests. The ground has conducted 28 ODIs for men, which included the memorable World Cup final win in 2011, and nine Women’s ODIs.
In the shortest format in international cricket, Wankhede Stadium has eight T20Is to its name in the men’s game and four T20Is in the women’s game.
With that said, let us dive in to have a look at Wankhede Stadium’s Test records and stats.
Wankhede Stadium Test records and stats
Highest Total
India's mammoth total of 631 in the fourth Test of a five-match series in 2016 is the highest total recorded by any team in a single innings of a Test match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
In pursuit of England’s first-innings total of 400, India put on a batting masterclass headlined by skipper Virat Kohli’s (235) excellent double hundred. Opener Murali Vijay (136) and off-spinner Jayant Yadav (104) also came up with centuries to power India to a huge lead of 231 runs.
England could manage only 195 in their second innings as India cantered to an innings and 36-run victory.
Lowest Total
New Zealand had the ignominy of recording the lowest total in a Test match innings at the Wankhede Stadium as they were skittled out by India for a paltry 62 in the second and final Test of a two-match series in December 2021.
After scoring 325 runs in their first innings, India, led by Mohammed Siraj (3/19) reduced the Kiwis to 17/3. Ravichandran Ashwin (4/8), then ran through the New Zealand middle and lower order along with Axar Patel (2/14) to subject the visitors to their lowest total in Test cricket against India.
With a huge deficit in the first innings, New Zealand could never come back in the game and lost the contest by 372 runs.
Most runs
Batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar has scored the most runs in Tests at the Wankhede Stadium amassing 1122 runs from 11 matches at an average of 56.10. The legendary batter has also scored five centuries and three fifties from 20 innings on his home ground.
Gavaskar, who scored 86 against West Indies in the first-ever Test played at the Wankhede Stadium in 1975, also recorded his highest score (205) at the venue against the same opponents in the first Test of a six-match series in December 1978.
Opening the batting, the little master hit 29 fours and two sixes en route to scoring a double hundred to help India to 424 in their first innings. The match ended in a draw and India went on to win the series 1-0.
Most wickets
Ravichandran Ashwin and Anil Kumble lead the bowling charts for most wickets in Tests at the Wankhede Stadium with 38 scalps each.
Ashwin has played five Test matches at the iconic venue and picked up his wickets at an average of 18.42 and an impressive strike rate of 38 balls per wicket. Meanwhile, Kumble took seven matches to reach his tally and averaged 21.86 with a strike frequency of 57.68 balls.
Ashwin has three five-wicket hauls in Tests at this venue with two of them coming in the same match against England in 2016. His 6/55 in the second innings of that match which powered India to an innings victory over the Englishmen are his best figures at this venue.
Kumble has picked up one fifer in Tests at Wankhede Stadium with his 5/90 against Australia in the final Test of a four-match series in November 2004 being his best figures at the venue.
Highest individual score
Clive Lloyd’s unbeaten 242 in the first Test to be played at Wankhede Stadium, between India and West Indies, is the highest individual score in a Test innings by any batter at this venue.
Lloyd played a captain’s knock hitting 19 fours and four sixes to power the Windies to a mammoth 604/6d in the first innings to set up their 201-run win over the hosts in January 1975.
Virat Kohli’s 235 against England in December 2016 is second on the list of highest individual scores at this venue with Vinod Kambli (224) and Sunil Gavaskar (205) being the other double centurions at the Wankhede Stadium.
Best bowling figures in a match
Ajaz Patel’s magical spell of 10/119, where he dismissed all the batters in an innings, in the second and final India-New Zealand Test in 2021 are the best bowling figures recorded in a Test innings at the Wankhede Stadium.
The Kiwi’s was only the third instance, after England’s Jim Laker in 1956 and India’s Anil Kumble in 1999, that a single bowler was responsible for all the 10 dismissals in an innings in a Test match.
Ajaz picked up four more wickets in the second innings of the same Test match to come up with match figures of 14/225, the best in a Test match at the venue.
Highest Partnership
Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri’s unbroken sixth wicket stand of 298 runs in an India-Australia Test in 1986 is the highest partnership for any wicket in Tests at the Wankhede Stadium.
The duo joined together after India lost three quick wickets to slip from 194/2 to 219/5 in pursuit of Australia’s first innings total of 345. Vengsarkar scored 21 fours and a six to remain unbeaten on 164 while Shastri hit six sixes and nine boundaries in his knock of 121.
They powered India to a position of strength as the team declared their innings at 517/5 with an overall lead of 172 runs. The match ended in a draw.
Photo credit: Imago