New Delhi: As Motera Stadium hosts US President Donald Trump at a grand event, here’s a look at why the ground is special to cricket fans across the country.
The first major moment in the ground’s history came in 1983 as Indian batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar went past England’s Geoffrey Boycott to register the highest number of Test runs at that time.
The 1983 World Cup-winning hero Kapil Dev also had a major strong point of his career at the Motera as he went past New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee’s wicket tally in Test matches.
In 1994, he surpassed Hadlee’s 431 Test wickets. With this, the all-rounder created the record for having the most number of wickets in the longest format. However, this was broken by West Indies’ Courtney Walsh in 1999.
2011 World Cup campaign is remembered by all, but it was the quarter-final clash at Motera which made the Indian side look invincible in the tournament.
India locked horns with Australia in the quarter-finals, and Yuvraj Singh took the side over the line and India then went on to become the first side to win a World Cup on their home soil.
The Motera stadium has been completely rebuilt after demolishing the old one, which was constructed in 1982 and had a seating capacity of 49,000 people.
Spread over 64 acres and one of the dream projects of Prime Minister Modi, it was completed in two years at an estimated cost of Rs 700 crore and has the capacity of over 1 lakh. (ANI)
