New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that he wishes to see Cheteshwar Pujara score a double century and help India win against England in the upcoming pink-ball Test here at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

“This stadium is very memorable for Javagal Srinath. He took six wickets against South Africa, on the same ground, Kapil Dev broke Richard’s Hadlee tally of wickets. On this same ground, Sunil Gavaskar achieved the milestone of 10,000 runs. On this same ground, Sachin Tendulkar achieved the 18,000 ODI runs and he completed his 20 years in international cricket here. I wish Pujara scores double century here and he helps India to win against England,” said Amit Shah during the inauguration ceremony of the Narendra Modi Stadium.

When Pujara last played against England in Ahmedabad, he had gone on to score a double century and Amit Shah now wishes to see the right-handed batsman achieve the same feat again.

As CM, he used to say Gujaratis must also progress in 2 fields-sports&armed forces. He took charge of GCA on my request&promoted sports here. His vision was that world's largest cricket stadium be built here. This 1,32,000-seater stadium will be known as Narendra Modi Stadium: HM pic.twitter.com/bn2BNcLA57

— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2021

President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday inaugurated the newly-built stadium which was renamed the Narendra Modi Stadium ahead of the pink-ball Test between India and England. Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju were also in attendance on the occasion.

On February 24, 2019, the then President of United States, Donald Trump had visited Motera Stadium for the ‘Namaste Trump’ event, and exactly one year later, the newly-built stadium will now be hosting its first international cricket match.

BCCI office-bearers including Jay Shah (secretary), Arun Dhumal (joint-secretary), and Rajeev Shukla (vice-president) were also present at the venue to receive President Kovind.

The stadium is the biggest cricket stadium in the world as it has a total capacity of 1,32,000 and all the facilities have been taken care of. The stadium is oval in shape and as a result, whenever a match is played on any of the 11 pitches, the boundary size would remain the same on both sides. Shadow mapping was also done before the construction of this stadium and as a result, no shadows would be seen during the twilight period.

Kovind, Shah and Rijiju also took part in the Bhumi Pujan of the Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave. The government of India has proposed Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave. The project will be jointly executed by the Government of India, the Government of Gujarat, and the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA).

When I went to Australia in Nov 2018, I learnt that 90,000-seater Melbourne Cricket Ground was the largest in world. It is a proud moment for India today that Motera's 1,32,000-seater stadium has become the world's largest cricket stadium: President Ram Nath Kovind in Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/p7IoBsHjyf

— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2021