The crowd for the fourth India-Australia Test at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium could break the MCG record
The MCG record for the largest attendance in a single day of Test cricket is in jeopardy en route to the fourth and final Test match of the Australian series in India.
Core items:
- The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahemdabad holds 132,000 people
- Only two tests have been played on site since a major rebuild and none have made it past three days
- Australia have already relinquished the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but are aiming to level the series 2-2
An estimated 100,000 people could flock to Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday for the first day of play.
Final attendances will be a source of intrigue as up to 85,000 day tickets are reserved for local families and students at the 132,000 capacity stadium.
Initial fears that traveling Australian spectators would be denied access to the start of the game have receded.
Fans can now access tickets online, having previously only been able to purchase tickets for days two through five.
The record attendance for a day of Test cricket since the start of the 2013–14 Ashes battle at the MCG is 91,112, although the series had already been won by that point.
Now the opening of the final game in the latest Border Gavaskar series becomes an extravaganza. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be present as Australia try to equalize the series 2-2 after winning game three in Indore.
Mr Albanese and India’s Prime Minister will take part in a number of events ahead of the Test, including handing out hats to the players and taking part in an opening ceremony.
A number of influential Australian business leaders – including Qantas boss Alan Joyce, Fortescue Metals boss Andrew Forrest and Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn – will accompany Mr Albanese on his first trip to India as prime minister.
Mr Albanese is expected to stay at the Colosseum in Ahmedabad for around an hour before moving on to other engagements in Mumbai and Delhi.
After almost five years of reconstruction, the stadium in the capital of the Indian state of Gujarat was reopened in February 2020.
The first event at the stadium was a political one as Donald Trump arrived in India where the former President of the United States famously mispronounced the names of cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli during a speech.
It was also packed for the National Games late last year.
The ground – originally named Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium – was renamed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2021 Test matches between India and England.
Those two games, the only on-site Tests since 2012, won’t give fans much hope that the final game of the series will break the trend of truncated Tests.
The third game of the 2021 series was a day-night game, not even making it past day two as India chased 49 in eight overs to win by 10 wickets and England the fourth Test in the final session of the lost on the third day.
India’s men’s side have lost just two of their 12 games – two Tests, three ODIs and seven T20s – they have played on the rebuilt ground.
AAP/ABC
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-07/ahmedebad-crowd-fourth-india-australia-test-to-break-mcg-record/102061052 The crowd for the fourth India-Australia Test at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium could break the MCG record
