Azad Maidan is a triangular-shaped maidan

Maidan

Maidan or Maydan is a Persian word meaning "town square". It may refer to:- Squares and parks :* Maidan , a park in Kolkata, India* Maidan Nezalezhnosti, "Independence Square", the central square of Kiev, capital of Ukraine...

 (sports ground) 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...

. The name Azad means "free" in Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

. The ground is known for its 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...

 pitches, for protest meetings, and for political rallies. To the south of the maidan is the Bombay Gymkhana

Bombay Gymkhana

Bombay Gymkhana ,, established in 1875, is one of the premiere gymkhanas in the city of Mumbai, India. It is located in the South Mumbai area and was originally built as a British-only club, designed by English architect, Claude Batley. The Gymkhana Grounds lie in the southern end of the Azad Maidan...

.

During the struggle for India's independence, leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

 and Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lal Bahadur Srivastava Shastri was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India and a significant figure in the Indian independence movement.-Early life:...

used to address huge crowds here.

Numerous cricket pitches dot the ground. On Sundays, many of the city's youth play cricket here.