Sardar Patel Stadium: To be opened on January 2020, seating capacity, construction cost, location

Ahmedabad, August 1: Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, aka Motera, is one of India's younger cricketing venues after getting to the map in 1983. But it has seen some historic moments like the 10000th Test run of Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev's record-breaking 432nd Test wicket and Sachin Tendulkar's first career Test double hundred.

Now, the stadium will get a new look and finish soon as it will be reincarnated as the world's largest cricket stadium, pushing behind Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to second place. The new-look Motera will have a seating capacity of 1.16 lakh, a few thousands more than the G. Eden Gardens in Kolkata too had boasted of a seating capacity over a lakh but has come down to a little over 80000 after the renovation work ahead of the ICC World Cup in 2011.

Now, the stadium will be opened for matches in January 2020 with the officials 90 per cent work has been completed. The first match could be a T20I match between India and World XI.

Main points about Sardar Patel stadium:

1. The project which is estimated to cost Rs 700 crore is being constructed by Larson and Toubro (L&T). It has been designed by M/s Populace a renowned architecting firm which has also designed the MCG.

2. The Motera stadium in its new life will be spread over 63 acres and will have a club house with over 50 rooms, 76 corporate boxes, four dressing rooms, three practice grounds, an indoor cricket training academy, an Olympic size swimming pool, a parking area that can accommodate about 3,000 four wheelers and over 10,000 two-wheelers.

3. The project has been a brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was once seated as the President of Gujarat Cricket Association, and has full support of Home Minister Amit Shah.

4. In order to utilise sustainable power at all levels, a solar power plant is under construction in the stadium premises. Lubi Solar, which is a division of Lubi Electronics, will be responsible for the supply and commissioning of this rooftop solar power plant.

5. The GCA official said once completed the stadium will be a sight to behold and would host some crucial matches in future including some of the ICC 50-over World Cup 2023 ties.

GCA plans about opening the stadium

"The construction is in full swing from January 2018. And we are eager to open the venue at the earliest. We are hoping that the stadium will be completed by end of this year or early next year," a GCA official told MyKhel.