Huge crowd watches India v England at Narendra Modi Stadium

World sport took another step towards recovery from the coronavirus pandemic as the largest crowd since the COVID-19 outbreak gathered for the T20 International between India and England at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. As many as 57,000 people, including volunteers and police, attended the clash, which England won convincingly. The Motera stadium can hold 110,000 spectators, meaning the large turnout could enjoy the game while still following social distancing protocols the Gujarat Cricket Association said. The five-match T20 series will be held entirely at the Narendra Modi Stadium, before three ODIs in Pune.

“We had 52,000 official admission through turnstile (tickets). There were 3,000-4,000 complimentary tickets. The rest were police and volunteers, bringing the total to about 57,000,” Anil Patel, the joint secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association, said.

Another official said that the demand for low priced tickets were more. “Most of the crowd bought tickets at the low-end, Rs500 and Rs1,000. There was less demand for high-end tickets,” he said.

The first international game to witness spectators was the Australia-New Zealand women’s limited-overs series that began in Brisbane in late September, 2020.