Be it the 2011 World Cup final, or Sachin Tendulkar's final international match or even the heartbreaking 2016 World T20 semifinal loss, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai has given the Indian fans plenty of memorable moments ever since it hosted its first international match in 1975.
It is also the venue in which the former Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri famously hit six sixes in an over in a Ranji Trophy game. Over the years, it has gained a reputation of being a batting paradise especially in limited-overs cricket with batsmen finding it easy to score big and score quicker.
The Wankhede is also the home venue for IPL side Mumbai Indians. Initially, it had a seating capacity of 45,000 but was then trimmed down to 33,000 during renovation for the 2011 World Cup.
In its 41-year-old history, the Wankhede stadium, which is located near the sea, has hosted some high-profile clashes and holds a special place in every Indian cricket fan's heart despite being the built after the Bombay Gymkhana ground and the Brabourne stadium. We take a look at ten of the best matches the Wankhede stadium had to offer us over the years:
Also read: Top 10 cricket matches at Eden Gardens
#10 India vs South Africa - 2000 Test
Not many visiting teams have come to India and completely dominated them in a Test series like South Africa did in 2000. The two-match Test series finished 2-0 in South Africa's favour especially the second one being one-sided. But the first Test at the Wankhede stadium proved to be a low-scoring thriller with neither team managing to post 250 in the entire Test.
India initially gained a massive upper hand on a bowling paradise by fetching a 49-run lead in the first innings thanks to skipper Sachin Tendulkar who starred with both and ball. First, he scored a vital 97 with the bat to guide his team to 225 with the rest failing to deliver and then came back with the ball to pick up three wickets including the two openers who had put 90 for the first wicket. From 90 for no loss, the Proteas were all out for 176.
But Shaun Pollock and Hansie Cronje rattled India in the second innings to stun the home crowd as the hosts were bowled out for a paltry 113. Chasing 164 for victory, South Africa were cruising at one stage before the Indian bowlers staged a late fightback. Anil Kumble picked up four wickets but in the end, the hosts were a few runs short as South Africa completed a nervy four-wicket win.
#9 India vs Australia - 2007 ODI
Another low-scoring thriller but this time the result went in India's favour in the 50-over format. And it is a match that left-arm spinner Murali Kartik would never ever forget in his life. He barely got opportunities in the presence of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble those days but when he got one at the Wankhede on that eventful day, he grabbed it with both hands.
The full house crowd witnessed another massive collapse as Australia went from 117 for 2 in the 20th over to be dismissed for 193 thanks to Kartik's magic. He registered his career-best figures by picking up six wickets for just 27 runs.
Ricky Ponting was the only batsman to register a half-century in the game. The chase began in disastrous fashion for India as they lost Sourav Ganguly and Dinesh Karthik for ducks very early. They were staring at defeat after losing the sixth wicket with just 64 on the board before Robin Uthappa and Harbhajan Singh inspired an epic comeback. They put on 65 for the seventh wicket before Uthappa fell for 47 opening the doors for the visitors.
Tailenders Zaheer Khan and Kartik had other ideas though as they remained unbeaten until the end with an unbeaten 52-run stand to steer India to a memorable 2-wicket win. It came too late in the series though as the visitors had already wrapped up the series win before this contest.
8. England vs South Africa - 2016 World T20
The most recent match to have made the cut here is the World T20 encounter between South Africa and England in which 459 runs were scored in 39.4 overs. Watching a team post 229 on the board in a T20 is not a regular sight. And then witnessing their opposition chasing such a mammoth total down is such a rare occurrence.
Blistering half-centuries from openers Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock helped South Africa score 114 inside the first nine overs of the contest. JP Duminy then came down the order to hit an unbeaten 54 off just 28 balls to guide the Proteas to 229 in the first innings.
England made their intentions here right from the start as they brought up the 50 in just the 3rd over of the chase. Despite losing three wickets in the powerplay, they managed to post 89 on the board. Joe Root continued to punish the bowlers and made a 44-ball 83. Despite a mini comeback right at the death, the Proteas couldn't prevent a two-wicket loss.
#7 India vs England - 2006 Test
England gatecrashed India's party at the Wankhede in the 2006 series when they had their backs against the wall. The visitors turned their fortunes around in remarkable fashion to script a huge win in order to level the series. Skipper Rahul Dravid's 100th Test ended in being a huge disappointment as the hosts crumbled on the final day to lose by 212 runs.
A century from Andrew Strauss and half-centuries from Owais Shah and Andrew Flintoff helped England's inexperienced batting lineup post 400 in the first innings. James Anderson then bowled exceedingly well to restrict India to 279 with only Dravid and MS Dhoni managing fifties.
After having conceded a lead of over 100, India did well in the second innings to bowl out England for 191 but the target of 313 proved to be too much in the on the final day as Shaun Udal ran through the home side with four wickets.
#6 India vs Australia - 1996 World Cup
One of those ODIs where India had to largely depend on Sachin Tendulkar ended up in disappointment for the hosts as they surrendered meekly following his dismissal which was a familiar sight in the 90s.
The occasion was the 1996 World Cup against Australia in the group stage in which the visitors made a strong start with a century stand for the opening wicket. While skipper Mark Taylor scored a fifty, Mark Waugh went on to make 126. But dramatically, Australia suffered from run-out blues on the day as five of their batsman succumbed to pressure from the Indian fielders to be shot out for 258.
Despite losing Ajay Jadeja early, Sachin at the other end kept going strong and found boundaries at regular intervals to score at a strike rate of over 100. His partnership with Sanjay Manjrekar threatened to take the game away from Australia before the centurion Mark Waugh prevented Sachin from getting a century of his own.
The wicket gave them the perfect opening as Damien Fleming picked up five wickets to give his side a 16-run win in the end. While India got knocked out in the semi-final against Sri Lanka, Australia lost to the same opposition in the final.
#5 India vs England - 2012 Test
A Test match that every Indian fan would remember for a very long time but for wrong reasons. After annihilating the visiting English team in the first Test, India went a step ahead and prepared a rank turner at the Wankhede in order to pile more misery on the visitors.
The move, though, backfired in stupendous fashion as Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar made perfect use of the conditions to lead England's fightback. India batted first and posted 327 with the help of Cheteshwar Pujara's 135.
In reply, skipper Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen struck contrasting tons to help the visitors fetch an 87-run first innings lead. While Cook dug in deep to score 122, Pietersen was severe against the spinners and went on to score a majestic 186.
Nine Indian batsmen registered single-digit scores in the second innings as Panesar and Swann ran riot to dismiss India for just 142 which gave England just 57 to chase. The openers knocked off the runs in comfortable fashion to level the series 1-1.
#4 India vs Australia - 2004 Test
With the series already lost, India had only pride to play for. Australia managed to win the Border-Gavaskar trophy following a series win in India after 35 years and hence decided to hand Nathan Hauritz a Test debut on what appeared to be a dust bowl.
India, on the other hand, handed debuts to Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik.
Stand-in-skipper Rahul Dravid was the only batsman to put up some resistance in the first innings as India were shot out for a paltry 104. Anil Kumble and Murali Kartik picked up nine wickets between them to bowl Australia out for 203 in return.
On such a surface, a lead of 99 appeared to be gigantic. After losing Gambhir and Virender Sehwag early in the second innings, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman showed the rest how to bat on the wicket as both of them scored half-centuries to revive India. The rest failed as part-time bowler Michael Clarke ran through the Indian line up and stunned everyone with a six-wicket haul.
Chasing just 107 for victory, Australia were expected to make it 3-0 but Harbhajan Singh and Kartik kept chipping in with the wickets to hand India a thrilling 13-run win.
#3 India vs Sri Lanka - 2011 World Cup Final
Not the tightest of contests at the Wankhede, but one that would go down in history forever, as India won their second ODI World Cup at this venue in 2011, with a 6-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the final.
Batting first in the final, Sri Lanka rode on Mahela Jayawardene's classy ton to post a formidable 274 on the board. Lasith Malinga then silenced the entire arena by dismissing the openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar quite early in the chase.
Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni then stitched an important partnership to put India back on track. Even though Gambhir was dismissed for 97, Dhoni, who came in ahead of Yuvraj Singh, kept going at the other end and remained unbeaten on 91 until the end.
His six over long on off Nuwan Kulasekera's bowling to win the title is a moment that has been etched in every single Indian fan's memory forever.
#2 India vs West Indies - 2011 Test
By the time this Test match began, India had already wrapped up the series 2-0 and had their sights on the Australian tour. But the dead rubber proved to be the best game of the series as fans witnessed a cracking final day's play.
Only for the second time in Test history, a match ended in a draw with the scores tied.
The top six West Indian batsmen went past 50 with Darren Bravo registering a big hundred to take their side to a mammoth 590 in the first innings. In reply, R Ashwin's maiden Test ton helped India reduce the deficit to 108.
Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha came back to dismantle the visitors for just 134 in the second innings as India were set a target of 243 runs to win.
The hosts were going strong at 101 for 1 in the chase before the West Indies pulled things back to reduce them to 189 for 6. Virat Kohli kept India going with a half-century but the match headed for a thrilling finish following his dismissal in the end.
With only two wickets left and three needed off the final over, Varun Aaron survived the first three balls off Fidel Edwards and managed a single off the fourth. Ashwin hit the final ball towards long on but got run out when going for a second run.
Nevertheless, history was made and India won the series 2-0.
#1 India vs England - 2002 ODI
A series that was firmly under India's grasp witnessed an extraordinary finish to it in the end at the Wankhede in Mumbai as England scripted a magnificent comeback to win the epic contest at the Wankhede by 5 runs. They also managed to win the previous game by 2 runs, with it drawing the series 3-3.
Batting first, Marcus Trescothick tormented India again with an 80-ball 95 to give his side a solid start. Harbhajan Singh managed to dismiss him at the right moment and went on to pick five wickets in the game. Andrew Flintoff's valuable 40 helped England post a competitive 255 on the board.
Even though local boy Sachin Tendulkar fell early, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly gave India the ideal platform to chase the total down. India were only 100 runs short of sealing the series with 8 wickets left in hand. They also had ample time left with more than 20 overs still left in the chase, but that's when England made a spirited fightback.
Following Ganguly's dismissal for 88, England ran through the lower order with Flintoff, in particular, bowling a fiery spell at the death. With six needed off the final three balls, the all-rounder first effected a run-out and then bowled Javagal Srinath off the final ball following which he took off on a wild run removing his shirt to stun the capacity crowd.
A few months later, Ganguly retaliated with a similar act when India remarkably chased down 326 to win the Natwest Tri-series final at Lord's.
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