AHMEDABAD: The largest cricket stadium in the world, the newly refurbished Sardar Patel Motera Stadium in Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, is ready and waiting to welcome not just the Indian and English Test sides for the third match in the series, but also eager fans when the gates open Wednesday, February 24.
The Motera Stadium, equipped with new decorations and the latest facilities, and completed in a short span of two years, will be inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind.
The stadium is spread over 63 acres, with a seating capacity of 110,000 people, eclipsing Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which accommodates 90,000 people.
Constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 8 billion by Larsen & Turbo (L&T), Motera has 76 corporate boxes, an Olympic size swimming pool, an indoor academy, four dressing rooms for athletes, food courts and a clubhouse.
A total of 11 clay pitches of six red and five black soils have been prepared in the stadium. It is the first stadium to use both coloured clays for main and practice pitches. In the event of rain, the pitch can be dried in only 30 minutes.
The state-of-the-art LED Floodlights will not uncomfortably warm up the atmosphere and will provide comfort to the spectators as well as the cricketers.
An innovative feature of this stadium is that the 360-degree podium concourse at a height of 9 meters eases simplifies the movement of spectators, as well as provides a uniform view to the spectators from any stand.
The corporate boxes have a seating capacity of 25 each. The 150-ton air-cooling tower will maintain the closed-air portion of the stadium fully air-conditioned. Huge dressing rooms have been created for both teams.
Separate state-of-the-art gyms have also been set up. A special lounge has been built near the players and VIP entrance. The autographed bat collection of players from the teams of IPL and World Cup matches played so far in the Autograph Gallery at the stadium is a centre of attraction, as too the “Hall of Fame”, featuring photographs of world-renowned cricketers.
When the old stadium was demolished in 2016, the Motera Stadium had a seating capacity of 54,000. The foundation stone of the new cricket stadium was laid by the Gujarat Cricket Association in January 2018 for the construction of a new and state-of-the-art and fully equipped stadium.
