PRESIDENT Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday inaugurated the world’s largest cricket arena here, the refurbished Sardar Patel Stadium, which will now be known as Narendra Modi stadium — named after the country’s Prime Minister. The state-of-the-art facility can accommodate 1.32 lakh spectators. “This stadium was conceptualised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was President of the Gujarat Cricket Association at that time,” Kovind said in his address after the inauguration.

 

“This stadium is an example of eco-friendly development,” he added. The President inaugurated the stadium in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju among a host of other dignitaries. “We have decided to name it after the country’s Prime Minister. It was Modi ji’s dream project,” said Shah after the inauguration. The President also performed the ground-breaking ceremony for a sports complex in the stadium, to be named Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel sports enclave, for disciplines like football, hockey, basketball, kabbadi, boxing, and lawn tennis among others. “I am confident that this enclave will give a new global identity to Ahmedabad in terms of world-class sports infrastructure,” Kovind said.

 

Spread over 63 acres, the stadium has been built at an estimated cost of Rs 800 crore and with a seating capacity for 1,32,000 spectators, it has surpassed the hallowed Melbourne Cricket Ground which can accommodate 90,000. “The total area is equivalent to 32 Olympic size soccer fields put together,” stated a note from the Press Information Bureau giving specifics of the enormous structure. The facility, which was closed for renovation in 2015, was witness to some major milestones in Indian cricket in its previous avatar. These included Sunil Gavaskar reaching the 10,000 runs mark in Test cricket against Pakistan in 1987 and Kapil Dev claiming his 432nd Test wicket to become the highest wicket-taker in the world in 1994, surpassing Sir Richard Hadlee. Australian architect firm Populous, which designed the Melbourne Cricket Stadium among others, is the architect of the new stadium.