Since 1933 when the Bombay Gymkhana, also in South Mumbai, played host to the first Test not only in this city but in the entire country, no Indian team has been without a Mumbai player in the playing eleven.
For the first time since India played its first ever Test in Mumbai in 1933, no Mumbai player could make it to the playing eleven of a Test played in the nursery of the country's cricket, on Thursday.
Although Mumbai player Shardul Thakur was included in the squad for the fourth India-England Test that commended at the Wankhede Stadium, he was not included in the playing eleven to mark a rare happening.
Since 1933 when the Bombay Gymkhana, also in South Mumbai, played host to the first Test not only in this city but in the entire country, no Indian team has been without a Mumbai player in the eleven.
However, with Ajinkya Rahane being ruled out of the rest of the series after sustaining a freak finger injury during practice on Wednesday and Thakur, who was in the squad as a cover for Mohammed Shami, also not included, meant there was no representation from Mumbai, the premier team in Indian domestic cricket with a total of 41 Ranji Trophy titles and having produced some of the greatest names in Indian cricket like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar among others.
There have been instances in the past when a playing eleven had six to seven players from Mumbai.
This is also the 25th Test being played at this ground, since the first one in 1974-75, and 44th overall with the Brabourne Stadium, on the south side of the Churchgate railway station, having hosted 18 games from 1948 to 1972.
