The biggest cricket stadium in the world with a capacity of 1.10 lakh people is coming up in Motera, Ahmedabad.The construction of the new stadium, being built in place of the old 'Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium', is mostly ready and will soon be open to matches.
"Upon completion, this new stadium at Motera will be the biggest cricket stadium in the world with seating capacity of 1.10 lakh, putting behind the Melbourne stadium (in Australia), which accommodates 90,000 spectators," Noted architect firm 'M/s. Populous' has been roped in as the principal architect to design the stadium.
India has some of the world’s biggest sports facilities. The hallowed Eden Gardens once accommodated more than 100,000 fans until it was modernized. That reduced the capacity by almost 40 percent. The Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, essentially a multi-sport facility but main soccer, can seat a lakh.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is currently the biggest cricket facility in the world with a seating capacity of 90,000. The Sardar Patel cricket stadium in Motera has hosted 12 Test matches and 24 one-day internationals since it was inaugurated in 1982.
In December last year, Gujarat Cricket Association’s vice-president and Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani had handed over the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) to Larsen & Toubro (L&T) director M.V. Sathish. L&T will undertake the expansion project. The old stadium was razed recently by the GCA to build the new stadium, spread across 63 acres.
Have a look at the history of Motera Stadium:
Test match records:
Highest innings total: Sri Lanka 760/7d – India v Sri Lanka, 2nd innings, 16 Nov 2009
Lowest innings total: India 76 – India v South Africa, 1 innings, 3 Apr 2008
Highest individual score: Mahela Jayawardene 275 (Balls:435 4x27 6x1) – Sri Lanka v India, 16 Nov 2009
Best Bowling:
(In an innings) Kapil Dev 83/9 – India v West Indies, 12 Nov 1983
(In a match) Venkatapathy Raju 125/11 – India v Sri Lanka, 8 Feb 1994
Most runs: Rahul Dravid (India) 771 Runs (Mat:7 Inn:14 HS:222 Ave:59.30 SR:49.10 100x3 50x1)
Most wickets: Anil Kumble (India) 36 Wickets (Mat:7 Runs:964 BBI:7/115 BBM:10/233 Ave:26.77 Econ:2.29 SR:70.1 5W/I:3 10W/M:1)
One Day International match records:
Highest total: South Africa 365/2 – India v South Africa, 1st innings, 27 Feb 2010
Lowest total: Zimbabwe 85 – Zimbabwe v West Indies, 1st innings, 8 Oct 2006
Highest individual score: Sourav Ganguly 144 (Balls:152 4x8 6x6) – India v Zimbabwe, 5 Dec 2000
Best bowling: Mitchell Johnson 4/19 (9.2 overs) – Australia v Zimbabwe, 21 Feb 2011
Most runs: Rahul Dravid (India) 342 Runs (Mat:5 Inn:5 HS:109* Ave:114.00 SR:83.00 100x2 50x1)
Most wickets: Kapil Dev (India) 10 Wickets (Mat:6 Runs:156 Best:3/26 Ave:15.60 Econ:3.04)
Motera has witnessed some great feats of Indian cricket history:
1) Sunil Gavaskar completed 10,000 runs in Test cricket in 1986–87 against Pakistan.
2) Kapil Dev, who had taken 9 wickets in an innings in the first match on this ground, scalped his 432nd wicket in Test cricket to pass Sir Richard Hadlee's record, thus becoming the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket at that time.
In October 1999, Sachin Tendulkar scored his first Test Match
double-hundred in a match against New Zealand. Sachin Tendulkar completed his 20 years of International Cricket here on 16 November 2009 against Sri Lanka. During the same game, Sachin Tendulkar reached a landmark of 30,000 runs in International cricket which by far no cricketer has achieved.
Sachin Tendulkar became the first-ever cricketer to score 18,000 runs in One day cricket in a match against Australia during 2011 Cricket World Cup. AB de Villiers reached his first double-hundred against India during the second test of South Africa's tour to India in 2008.
So get ready India to cheer in the largest stadium of the world: Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Gujarat. Later it is renamed as Narendra Modi Stadium!
Check here the current list of Top 10 Cricket Stadiums: Top 10 Biggest Cricket Stadiums around the world
