MCG record under threat as Prime Ministers join 100,000 crowd on Tests’ biggest day | Cricket

India’s stadium, named after the country’s current prime minister, is under threat from holding the MCG record for the largest crowd in one-day Test cricket, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on hand to watch if the record falls.

An estimated 100,000 people could pack into the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday for the first day of the fourth Test between India and Australia.

The final crowd count is a fascinating source: up to 85,000 first-day tickets for the 132,000-capacity stadium have been reserved for local families and students.

Initial fears that traveling Australian spectators would not be able to watch the start of the match have been eased. Fans can now access tickets online after previously only being able to purchase tickets for days two through five.

The record attendance for a Test cricket day is 91,112 from the start of the 2013-14 Ashes battle at the MCG.

The opener of the final match of the Border-Gavaskar series is scheduled to be an extra with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in attendance.

Prime Minister Modi of Albania and India will attend a series of events ahead of the Test, including distributing hats to the players and attending the opening ceremony.

Several influential Australian business leaders, including Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, Fortescue Metals boss Andrew Forrest and Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn, will join the Albanian on his first trip to India as prime minister.

Albania is expected to stay at the Ahmedabad Coliseum for about an hour before moving on to other engagements in Mumbai and Delhi.

Located in the capital of the Indian state of Gujarat, the stadium reopened in February 2020 after nearly five years of renovation.

The first event at the stadium was a political event when Donald Trump arrived in India, with the former US president infamously mispronouncing the names of cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in his speech.

The ground, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, was renamed after Modi ahead of the 2021 Test between India and England.

The Australian team will leave Indore on Monday for Ahmedabad ahead of Thursday’s fourth Test. Having won the series by a remarkable nine points 2-1 last week, Australia pushed hard to get on the ledger even though the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has already been decided in favor of the home teams.

The Australian team will be captained again by Steve Smith after Australian captain Pat Cummins announced that he will stay in Sydney with his seriously ill mother Maria, who is in palliative care.