The Sardar Patel Stadium or popularly known as Motera Stadium is waiting to host an international match after a long time. India and England are set to become the first team to play in the world’s largest stadium. The seating capacity has been increased significantly at the stadium.
The stadium is located near the bank of Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is now the largest cricket stadium in the world and the second-largest stadium overall. Motera has a seating capacity of 1.10 lakh.
History
The stadium was constructed in 1983 and renovated in 2006. It was the regular venue for international matches. In 2015, the stadium was closed and completely rebuilt with an estimate of Rs 800 crore in February 2020.
Not only cricket matches, but the stadium also hosted several events organized by the Gujarat government. Also, it has hosted famous international matches during 1987, 1996 and 2011 cricket world cups. Motera had also hosted an iconic event “Namaste Trump” to welcome the then President of the US, Donald Trump on February 24, 2020.
The stadium occupies 63 acres of land with three entry points. It contains 76 corporate boxes which contain 25 people each. The stadium has facilities of a 55 room clubhouse, Olympic size swimming pool, and 4 dressing rooms. Instead of floodlights at a cricket ground, it has installed LED lights on the roof. The stadium has a capacity of 3,000 cars and 10,000 two-wheeler parking.
The stadium has also several other features, have a look:
- Olympic sized swimming pool
- Indoor cricket academy
- Badminton & Tennis court
- Squash arena
- Table Tennis
- 3D Projector Theatre
- Club House with 3 practice ground
- 50 rooms
On this ground, Kapil Dev also made the best bowling record in a match – 9/83 during India vs West Indies Test match on November 12, 1983. Sunil Gavaskar also completed his 10,000 runs in a Test Matches against Pakistan in 1986-87. In 1999, Sachin Tendulkar also scored his first Test double-hundred against New Zealand at this venue.
On February 24, the third Test match will be played between India Vs England. The Day-Night Test match will be played using a pink ball. The players are excited to play at the world's largest cricket ground.
In a Tweet, Hardik Pandya wrote “It feels surreal to be out here at the world’s largest cricket stadium, Motera. Absolutely magnificent.”
