Booking of tickets for third India-England Test from Feb 14

Ahmedabad, Feb 13: Booking of tickets for the third Test between India and England at the world's biggest cricket stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad will begin from Sunday, officials of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) said.

The authorities have decided to allow 50 percent spectators inside the Motera stadium for the last two Test matches of the four-match series, the GCA officials added.

England will play two Tests, including a day-night match, and five T20 Internationals against India at the stadium, which has a seating capacity of one lakh ten thousand spectators, making it the world's biggest in the sport.

GCA vice-president Dhanraj Nathwani said that the GCA is honoured to be hosting the series after the COVID-19-forced hiatus and is looking forward to entertaining the fans who will be required to follow all social distancing and safety norms.

"We hope normalcy returns soon and we get to see the stadium packed with fans cheering from all the stands for their teams," he said.

Nathwani thanked BCCI secretary Jay Shah for allocating two Tests and five T20 Internationals at the newly-built stadium. The pink ball Test, the third game in the series, will start on February 24, for which the tickets have been priced between Rs 300 and Rs 1,000.

Another GCA official said that President Ram Nath Kovind and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are likely to attend the inaugural ceremony of the stadium on February 24. The details of the inaugural event have not yet been finalised, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, on February 24 last year, hosted former US President Donald Trump at the stadium as part of the 'Namaste Trump' event.