It has been an eventful day for sports enthusiasts in India. Even as many cheered in anticipation of the pink-ball Test between India and England at Ahmedabad's Motera, the stadium got a new name. Now, Home Minister Amit Shah has even brought up the possibility of India hosting the Olympics.
The Home Minister was attending the inaugural event for the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera. The newly refurbished stadium was inaugurated by the President in the presence of Shah as well as Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah.
"Combining the sports complex, enclave and stadium in Ahmedabad, India will be ready to host even the Olympics in just six months! Such has been the size of infrastructure we have created. Ahmedabad will now be known as the Sport City of India," the BJP's official Twitter handle quoted Shah as saying.
Now we know that Shah might have been talking in superlatives. But this has certainly not dampened the enthusiasm of social media users. As the BJP's official handle as well as party leaders shared his remarks, many began debating whether India would now begin bidding to host the Olympics.
And while skeptics abound, many are taking this as an indication that India might soon play host to one of the world's grandest sporting events. "That speech of Amit Shah gave a confidence of having Olympics in India, someday (sic)," read one tweet.
"If India bids for Olympic games, it will be held at Ahmedabad," opined another.
But whether the country is equipped or not, it cannot play host for several years yet. Bidding has already been completed until 2030 for the Winter and Summer Olympics, and India is not in the running for this decade.
And while India's Olympic prospects might seem like mere conjecture at this time, the facilities at the refurbished stadium are certainly impressive. 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 will remain the same on both sides.
The proposed Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave will be one of its kind international-level integrated sports infrastructure spread over 215 acres. It will be one of the largest contiguous and multi-sports facility in the country. The entire facility will offer venues for over 20+ Olympic Games such as athletics, badminton, football, aquatics, basketball and many other indoor and outdoor sports.
The sports enclave will also have a 15,000 capacity field hockey stadium and a 50,000 seat athletics-football stadium with a 400m track. A 5,000 capacity tennis stadium would also be there along with 12 additional tennis courts.
A total of 93,00,000 square feet of built space is proposed and the Sports Enclave will also be able to host about 2,50,000 visitors during an event day.
(With inputs from agencies)
