Motera

India's recently rebuilt Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat has taken the top spot from Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia to become the largest cricket stadium in the world. The stadium was inaugurated today by President Ram Nath Kovind in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Located in Sabarmati, the Motera Stadium is equipped with new decorations and latest facilities. The 3rd Test match between India and England will be played there. Players from both teams have been training at the newly built stadium.

"To be honest, to be in the word's largest stadium, we actually cannot wait to have the fans around and see the atmosphere, which will be tremendous," said Hardik Pandya in a video posted by the BCCI.

Speaking about the new stadium, Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara said, "It's an amazing feeling, it's a huge, huge stadium and we all are looking forward to playing our first pink-ball Test at Motera."

Exactly a year ago, on February 24, 2020, former US President Donald Trump at a programme 'Namaste Trump', had inaugurated the Motera Stadium with PM Modi.  

Indian President Kovind today formally inaugurated the venue before the start of the third Test match between India and England. The inauguration event also witnessed the presence of Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, apart from Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Sardar Patel Motera Stadium is spread over 63 acres and has a seating capacity of 1.10 lakh people. Melbourne Cricket Ground, on the other hand, can accommodate 90,000 people simultaneously. However, only 55,000 fans will be allowed at the Motera Stadium due to COVID-19 restrictions.

After the world's largest statue, Statue of Unity, Gujarat now holds the new record of housing the world's largest cricket stadium. This stadium is built at an estimated cost of Rs 800 crore. The stadium is constructed by the Larsen & Turbo company, which also built the Statue of Unity.

The Motera stadium also has a clubhouse with over three practice grounds, an indoor cricket academy, an Olympic size swimming pool, 76 corporate boxes, 50 rooms, four dressing rooms and a parking area, which can hold around 3,000 cars and 10,000 bikes.