VARANASI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary and newly-elected International Cricket Council (ICC) Chairman Jay Shah, along with BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Monday, visited the construction site of the new international stadium in Varanasi.
Both Jay Shah and Rajeev Shukla visited the construction site to inspect the ongoing work. The two BCCI officials took stock of the ongoing work and talked to the engineers who were present at the site.
Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a new international cricket stadium in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BCCI president Roger Binny, and vice-president Rajeev Shukla also attended the event along with these aforementioned cricketers.
Addressing a sizeable gathering after laying the foundation stone for a new international cricket stadium last year, PM Modi said the sheer scale of success of Indian athletes at global events was an affirmation of the changing national outlook when it comes to sports.
“The continuing success stories that we are scripting in the world of sports today is a testament to the changing outlook towards it. Our government is helping sportspersons at every level, TOPS is one such scheme of the government”, PM Modi said.
Once opened, this stadium will have a seating capacity of more than 30,000, he added. The Uttar Pradesh government has spent Rs 121 crore on land acquisition for the stadium, while the BCCI will spend a further Rs 330 crore on its construction.
The thematic architecture of this stadium draws inspiration from Lord Shiva, with crescent-shaped roof covers, trident-shaped floodlights, a seating arrangement resembling the flights of stairs at ghats, and Bilvipatra-shaped metallic sheets on the facade.
This will be Uttar Pradesh’s third international cricket stadium after Kanpur and Lucknow. (ANI)