Kolkata: The Gujarat Cricket Association, helmed by BJP president Amit Shah, is seeking to make the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, an 110,000 capacity venue, exceeding the biggest cricket stadium in the world — Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) — which has a capacity of 100,024.
The idea as advertised as the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former GCA chief, with the construction of the new venue estimated to end in a year or two. The old facility has been annihilated already.
Larsen & Turbo has been offered a letter of acceptance by GCA
vice-president Parimal Nathwani after the demolition of the old ground was complete,to take over and begin with the makeover work. “The ground is ready to be handed over to the construction company. The new stadium, when completed, will be the largest cricket stadium in the world which will be made to meet all the latest the international standards,” a GCA press release said.
“The entry, stay and exit processes will be smoothed and emphasis will be given to facilitate guided tours of the cricket museum. Other facilities key facilities like eateries, fan-zones and washrooms will be of absolute top notch quality. In the next two years, the new structure will be ready,” GCA secretary Rajesh Patel said.
Currently, there are four Indian stadiums among the top five in the world with regard to its seating capacity. Kolkata’s Eden Gardens (66,000), Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Naya Raipur (65,000), Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi (60,000), and the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad (60,000).
Situated near the Sabarmati River, the Sardar Patel Stadium was
established in 1982. It accommodates an enormous crowd of 48000 people and was built on the ground donated by the State government.
It hosted its first test between India and West Indies in 1983 and the first ODI the next year between India and Australia. The ground has witnessed some memorable achievements for India – Sunil Gavaskar got to 10,000 runs against Pakistan in 1986-87 and seven years later Kapil Dev broke Richard Hadlee’s record and scalped his 432nd victim.
(With inputs from Agencies)