The biggest cricket stadium in the world, the Melbourne Cricket Ground was ready to be dethroned by the newly made Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, only for the Coronavirus pandemic to play spoilsport.

Inaugurated by US President Donald Trump on February 24 during his trip to India, the New Sardar Patel stadium has a capacity of seating 110,000 people, 10,000 more than MCG’s capacity of 100,000 seats. It was even rumored that the stadium would host the final of now postponed IPL 2020.

The $100-million, circular venue covers 63 acres of land, promises unobstructed views, and has state-of-the-art facilities including an Olympic-sized swimming pool as part of a multisport complex. Next door, a refurbished venue on the site of the former 49,000-capacity Motera Stadium will serve as a venue for cricket, football, and hockey.

It has 11 pitches for practice and has a state of the art drainage system. “We have planned a sub-surface drainage system in such a way that the entire ground will dry within 30 minutes after the rain stops. It will help us reduce the chances of cancellation of matches due to rain,” Dhanraj Nathwani, vice president of GCA had told the Indian Express last year.

Well, with no play possible due to the Coronavirus pandemic raging in the country, fans and cricketers are both waiting anxiously to get see the sport back and hence were relieved when BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, shared a photo of the New Sardar Patel Stadium on his Twitter account.

The panoramic shot of the stadium captured the colorful beauty of the ground and Shah called it ‘magnificent Motera’.