World’s biggest stadium named after PM Modi
AHMEDABAD: President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday inaugurated the world’s largest cricket arena — the refurbished Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera — a state-of-the-art facility which can accommodate 132,000 spectators. The stadium has been named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who initiated the idea to reconstruct the old venue.
It opened with the third Test between India and England, a day-night game, from Wednesday and will also host the fourth and final game of the series from March 4. “The total area is equivalent to 32 Olympic size soccer fields put together,” stated a note from the Press Information Bureau. Spread over 63 acres, the stadium has been built at an estimated cost of ₹800 crore. It’s seating capacity has surpassed that of the Melbourne Cricket Ground which can accommodate 90,000.
Excited fans streamed into the brand new stadium for what promises to be one of the biggest sporting spectacles since the pandemic. Only 55,000 tickets went on sale due to the pandemic, though, and officials expected between 35,000 and 40,000 people on each of the match’s five days.
AHMEDABAD: England collapsed to 112 in their first innings with India left-arm spinner Axar Patel snaring six wickets on the first day of the day-night third Test here on Wednesday. Opting to bat after winning a crucial toss, Joe Root’s men once again looked clueless against the in-form spin combination of Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin.
The visitors lost four wickets in the opening session before unravelling completely in the second. While Patel picked up for 6/38 in 21.4 overs, Ashwin returned figures of 3/26.
Veteran pacer Ishant Sharma, who is playing in his 100th Test, also chipped in with one wicket.
Opener Zak Crawley was England’s top scorer with a breezy 53-run knock that came off 84 balls before he was trapped LBW by Patel. Crawley’s impressive stay at crease included 10 fours. Skipper Joe Root’s 17 was the only other notable contribution in the below-par total.
With the hard pink-ball in hand, India spinners generated significant turn to trouble the batsmen with Crawley being the only exception. Ben Stokes was batting on six at tea with Ollie Pope on one at the other end with a big rebuilding job ahead of them in the second session.
England made four changes to their playing XI but the strong start Joe Root wanted after electing to bat did not materialise.
Playing his 100th test, Ishant Sharma had Dom Sibley caught in the slip in the third over and Jonny Bairstow fell for a duck in his first match of the four-test series. India captain Virat Kohli introduced spin as early as in the seventh over and Axar Patel trapped Bairstow lbw with his first delivery. The batsman reviewed the decision but could not get it overturned.
At the other end, Crawley batted as if on a different pitch dealing mostly in sweetly-timed boundaries. Crawley brought up his fifty off 68 balls with his 10th boundary as he and Root, who made 17, began to stitch together a partnership. Ravichandran Ashwin had other ideas, though, and the off-spinner trapped Root lbw with a fuller delivery. Root reviewed the decision but could not prolong his innings. Patel removed Crawley in similar fashion towards the end of the session to give India an upper hand early in the match at the world’s largest cricket stadium.
Ishant felicitation
Ishant Sharma was on Wednesday accorded a guard of honour by his teammates after being felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind and Home Minister Amit Shah ahead of his landmark 100th Test match here.
The 32-year-old Ishant is only the second Indian fast bowler after former captain Kapil Dev to play 100 Test matches. Before the start of the day-night third Test against England, the pacer received a memento from President Kovind while Shah handed him a commemorative 100th Test cap at the Narendra Modi Stadium here. As he made his way into the ground after England opted to bat, captain Virat Kohli’s men lined up to honour his longevity and service to Indian cricket.
Besides the President and home minister, also present during the inauguration of the world’s largest cricket stadium were sports minister Kiren Rijiju and BCCI secretary Jay Shah. In his landmark game, Ishant provided the home team a perfect start as he removed Dominic Sibley in the third over.
Though he has had many memorable moments in his career, Ishant struggled to name one while speaking to reporters ahead of the game. “If your career is 14 years long and you are still playing, you cannot name just one highlight. It is difficult to pinpoint just one highlight, every sportsperson has the graph going up and down,” Ishant said.