The new Sardar Patel stadium, built at cost of Rs 700 crores
after razing down the old structure at Motera, can seat more fans than
Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground, which has capacity of just over a lakh.
The world’s largest cricket stadium at Ahmedabad with a
capacity to host 1.10 lakh fans is likely to be ready to host its first match
next March — an exhibition game between Asia XI and World XI could be the
inaugural game if the International Cricket Council (ICC) agrees to Indian
cricket board’s request. The new Sardar Patel stadium, built at cost of Rs 700
crores after razing down the old structure at Motera, can seat more fans than
Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground, which has capacity of just over a lakh.
Jay Shah, the son of union home minister Amit Shah, and the
current secretary of the BCCI has been talking up the stadium as the brainchild
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the PM is expected to be at the
inauguration of the new stadium. Since he has now received confirmation from
the Gujarat Cricket Association of the stadium’s readiness, Sourav Ganguly,
BCCI’s president, said he will seek ICC’s approval for the opening game in
March.
“There will be Asia XI vs World XI game but it will be subject
to ICC’s approval,” Ganguly confirmed to The Indian Express after BCCI’s annual
general body meeting held in Mumbai on Sunday. It is learnt in order to make it
grand, the board and GCA wants the world’s top stars to come under one roof.
The stadium at Motera will more than double the capacity of the old structure
that hosted 54,000 spectators. It will be spread over 63 acres, with a
clubhouse that will feature at least 50 rooms and an Olympic-size swimming pool
and 73 corporate boxes.
It will also have an indoor cricket academy and three
practice grounds for the players. The stadium’s construction began in January
2017.
The venue is close to the metro station, a distance of just
300 metres. The structure is also reputed be earthquake-proof and will have LED
lights instead of normal floodlights as seen in other stadiums. The Sardar
Patel Stadium has been the venue of much-cherished Indian records — it was here
that Sunil Gavaskar became the first batsman in history to go past 10,000 Test
runs and it’s also the venue where Kapil Dev overtook Richard Hadlee’s wicket
tally with his 432nd Test wicket. Modi has been the former president of GCA
while Amit Shah was their outgoing president. The high-profile association
recently got its biggest representation in the BCCI when Jay was elected as the
secretary last month. A former GCA joint-secretary Jay will now be present at
the ICC’s Chief Executive Committee (CEC) meet. However, it is still not clear,
who will be BCCI’s nominee to the ICC.
“For CEC, the rule is that the secretary (Jay) will attend.
As for ICC representative we will decide in a couple of days,” Ganguly stated.
The Sardar Patel stadium has come a long way since 1983 when
it hosted its first Test against West Indies. In 1992 when former deputy chief
minister of Gujarat Narhari Amin took over as GCA president, the bank balance
was only 356 rupees, according to Amin. A few years later to raise funds, the
association showed the movie Sarfarosh at a local drive-in theatre, Amin had
told the magazine The Week. These days, there is no financial crunch at the
association with a modern stadium set to be inaugurated in a few months.
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