Mumbai

The first recorded cricket match in Mumbai took place between a Military XI and an Island XI in 1797. The affluent Parsis of Mumbai founded the short-lived Orient Cricket Club in 1848. In 1850, the Young Zoroastrian Club, which exists to this day was founded. In 1866, the Bombay Union Hindu Club, a forerunner of the Hindu Gymkhana was founded. In 1884, Sir Dorabji Tata formed the Parsi Gymkhana and helped an all-Parsi team tour England in 1886. Despite a cricketing failure, the Parsis organised another tour of England in 1888.

In 1889-90, an English team managed by George Vernon and captained by Lord Hawke played against the Bombay Gymkhana and the Parsis at the Gymkhana Ground during their tour of Ceylon and India. The Parsis pulled off a famous victory, a first for an Indian team against English opposition.

The Bombay Tournament, patronised by the Governor of Bombay Lord Harris, was played between the Parsis and Europeans, alternately in Bombay and Poona from 1892 to 1906. The 1892 match was the first First-class cricket match to be played in India. In 1906, Hindus played Parsis to create the Bombay Triangular. in 1912, the Muslims of the Mohammeden Gymkhana were invited to play and create the famous Bombay Quadrangular. In 1937, a fifth team, called The Rest, was admitted to the tournament. It comprised Buddhists, Jews, and Indian Christians. In 1946 that the Pentangular tournament was abandoned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and replaced by a zonal competition. The Ranji Trophy, in which regional teams from all over India competed, became the pre-eminent Indian cricket competition.

The Quadrangular Committee, consisting of the four Gymkhanas in Bombay, met to 6 August 1928 to discuss the formation of a single governing entity for cricket in the Bombay Presidency outside Sind. On 6 October 1928, 'The Bombay Presidency (Proper) Cricket Association' was adopted as the name of the governing body and clubs began to be enrolled as members. On 16 August 1934, the Gujarat Cricket Association and the Maharashtra Cricket Association approached the Board of Control for Cricket in India for direct affiliation, separating from The Bombay Presidency (Proper) Cricket Association. The rump organisation then adopted the name Bombay Cricket Association, with its jurisdiction limited to the 'Greater Bombay and Thana District'.

Ranji Trophy

Early success

Bombay won the first-ever Ranji Trophy competition in 1934–35, with Vijay Merchant starring in the final against Northern India. They retained title the following season with victory over Madras in the final. Bombay quickly showed themselves to be one of the strongest teams in the competition with 7 victories in the first 20 seasons of the Ranji Trophy. When playing Maharashtra in a semi-final of the 1948–49 season at Pune, Mumbai became the first and only team in first-class history to score over 600 runs in both innings of the same match – 651 and 714.

1950s-1970s dominance

However, it was only after this period of success that their dominance was at its zenith. Bombay won 20 out of 22 titles from 1955–56 to 1976–77, including 15 consecutive titles from 1958–59 to 1972–73. Bombay continued to regularly reach the Ranji Trophy final up to the mid-1980s.

1980s struggles

The latter half of the 1980s was Bombay's least successful period with no final appearances in 5 consecutive seasons.

1990s resurgence

However, they were able to regain some of their former glory from the 1990s onwards winning an additional 6 Ranji Trophies from 1993–94 to 2003–04.

21st century

In 2006–07, Mumbai won their 37th Ranji Trophy with victory over Bengal in the final at Wankhede Stadium. This win was particularly memorable as the team had recovered from the setbacks of losing their first three games and is reduced to 0/5 in the semi-final against Baroda.

Mumbai's dominance of the Ranji Trophy has led to many consecutive appearances in the Irani Trophy with much success including 15 wins from 29 appearances. However, they have failed to beat Rest of India since the 1997–98 Irani Cup.