The Oval Maidan is a large Grade I recreational ground situated in South Mumbai

South Mumbai

South Mumbai , sometimes incorrectly referred to by English Media as "SoBo" , the southern-most precinct of the city of Mumbai, India, comprises the city's main business localities and its adjoining areas...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is named because of its oval shape and is situated just south of Churchgate

Churchgate

Churchgate is an area in downtown South Mumbai. During the eighteenth and up to the mid 19th century, Bombay was a walled city. The city walls had three gates, and Church Gate, named after St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai was one of the gates. The gate was situated near the present day location of...

. It is a popular recreation ground and most popular sports being played there are cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 and football (soccer)

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

. The ground measures 22 acres (0.089 km²) in area. The government does not allow rallies in the maidan.
Till 1997, the ground was owned and run by the state government and was very poorly maintained. It was frequented by beggars, prostitutes and drug peddlers. Finally in 1997 a public charitable trust set up by the residents of the area, namely the OCRA (Oval-Cooperage Residents Association) was formed which petitioned the Maharashtra government to maintain the Oval maidan. The Maharashtra government did not respond to the petition, leading the group to take it to the Bombay High Court

Bombay High Court

Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...

. The Court ruled in their favour, forcing the government to either maintain the maidan or hand it over to ORCA. The ground was subsequently handed over to the ORCA.

The ORCA then went about fencing the ground and building a jogging course around the periphery. A lane which cut through the diameter of the ground was metalled to facilitate a smoother thoroughfare.

To the north of the ground, a cricket academy, the Elf cricket academy, run by former Indian cricketer

Indian cricket team

The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....

 Dilip Vengsarkar

Dilip Vengsarkar

Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar is an Indian cricketer and cricket administrator. He was one of the most stylish batsmen of his time, known as one of the foremost exponents of the drive. He was also known by the nickname 'Colonel'....

operated for a few years.