World's largest cricket stadium opens in India

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) – The world’s largest cricket stadium opened in India on Wednesday, with the hosts facing England in the third Test of their ongoing four-match series.

Located in Ahmedabad, the largest city of the western Gujarat state, the Narendra Modi Stadium is spread over 63 acres (nearly 255,000 square meters) and can seat 110,000 spectators, well over the 90,000 capacity of Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The stadium, named after India’s prime minister, was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind ahead of the start of the day-night pink ball Test.

The venue was known as Motera Stadium and had a capacity of 54,000 when it was demolished in 2016.

The reconstruction work by Indian firm Larsen & Toubro started in January 2018 and cost some 8 billion rupees ($114 million).

The stadium has 11 clay pitches, special LED lights along the entire circular roof, and a state-of-the-art drainage system that can dry the ground in just 30 minutes in case of rain, according to an official statement.

The massive venue also hosted former US President Donald Trump on his visit to India last February.

Trump and Modi addressed over 100,000 people at the stadium during the ex-US leader’s first official trip to the South Asian country.