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The Motera Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad has been renamed as the Narendra Modi Stadium ahead of the third-Test between India and England on Wednesday. President Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate the new facility which is being branded as the largest cricket stadium in the world with a capacity of 1,10,000. It is being reported that Home Minister Amit Shah will also be present for the occasion.
About the Stadium
The stadium was built in 1982 and initially had a seating capacity of 49,000 which was later revamped in its present form. Spread across 63 acres, the stadium also has an indoor cricket academy including a world-class dormitory for 40 athletes. The stadium has dressing rooms big enough to accommodate as many as four teams. The dressing rooms also boast of having state-of-the-art gymnasium. Meanwhile, six indoor practice pitches and three outdoor practice fields among other amenities are present in the stadium.
With the stadium said to have a capacity of 1,10,000, Narendra Modi Stadium is now the world's largest cricket stadium, followed by the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia and the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The first-ever Test at this venue was played during the 1983-84 West Indies tour of India while the last was played way back in 2012 against England. Overall, the stadium at Motera has hosted a total of 36 international fixtures - 12 Tests, 23 ODIs and a solitary T20I.
IND-ENG series poised at 1-1
The ongoing India-England series is currently posed at 1-1. With two more Tests to go, the Pink-ball Test beginning today could well go on to decide the course of the remainder of the series. India need to beat England 3-1 to qualify for the finals of the ICC World Test Championship scheduled to be played later this year. However, if England win the remaining two fixtures, they will play New Zealand in the final in the World Test Championship.