After bringing Pink-Ball Day/Night Test to India, recently appointed BCCI President Sourav Ganguly is looking forward to taking another huge step in Indian cricket as he is planning to host an exhibition game between Asia XI and World XI at the new Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad in March.
The new stadium is built at the cost of ₹700 crores is set to become the biggest cricket stadium in the world with a capacity of 1.10 lakh. The Stadium is expected to be fully functional in March and the idea of the exhibition match has been flouted as its inaugural match.
As per the quotes in the Indian Express, after the BCCI’s annual general body meeting held in Mumbai on Sunday, Ganguly said, “There will be Asia XI vs World XI game but it will be subject to ICC’s approval.”
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According to Sportstar, the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera is spread over 63 acres and has been designed by the same architect company that designed the MCG, Australian company Populous.
As per the reports of The Week, apart from these audience seats, the stadium will be having 76 corporate boxes, four dressing rooms, three practice grounds, indoor practice pitches, training center and a 55-room clubhouse, which will have an Olympic size swimming pool, badminton and tennis courts, squash arena, table tennis area and a 3D projector theatre.
The idea of constructing the new stadium was put forth during the tenure of then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi. Parimal Nathwani, vice-president of the Gujarat Cricket Association also mentioned that the venue will be connected to a metro station within 300m of reach. A huge ramp has been designed to facilitate the movement of 60,000 people at a time.
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Unlike the floodlights in the stadium complex, the Motera ground will be having LED lights all over the venue. The venue also has provision for solar power generation and 65 rainwater harvesting pits and the first match at the venue is expected to be a T20 match between team India and a World XI. More than 90 percent of the work has been completed.
Since he has now received confirmation from the Gujarat Cricket Association of the stadium’s readiness, Ganguly said he will seek ICC’s approval for the opening game in March.
