Cricket

Chennai to have world’s biggest stadium

Plans are in place to build the world’s largest cricket stadium near Chennai, a state of the art facility that will have a retractable roof to ensure no match is washed out. The stadium will be built in Kanchipuram district, some 25 kilometres from Tamil Nadu state capital Chennai, The Times of India reported on Tuesday. The stadium is set to be completed in time for the 2011 World Cup to be jointly hosted by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) is yet to finalise a contractor for the stadium, which is to be built on a 50-acre site and is expected to match the best in the world.

“The government has leased out the land to us for 30 years and we have remitted Rs. 1 lakh as first year’s payment,” The Times of India quoted TNCA president N. Srinivasan as saying. “The TNCA executive committee will meet on Thursday to discuss plans, including awarding of construction contract.”

The stadium is expected to have a seating capacity of much more than the Eden Gardens (90,000) and even the Melbourne Cricket Ground (1,00,000). The MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk) in Chennai has a capacity of 50,000.

Tags: bcci, chinnaswamy stadium, Kanchipuram, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, TNCA