The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is planning to build a new cricket stadium in Mumbai that will have a seating capacity of 1 lakh fans. According to a report in the Times of India on Sunday (July 7), MCA is planning to build a new stadium in Thane district, which will be 68 km away from the Wankhede Stadium.

It has been reported that the new stadium will be built on 50 acres of open land in Amane village. MCA has reportedly submitted the open tender floated by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to acquire the land and is waiting for the approval of the Maharashta government for the project.

The new stadium is said to be a dream project of former MCA President Amol Kale, who passed away last month.

The report of the new stadium came a day after Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called for the ionic city to have a bigger stadium during the felicitation ceremony of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the Maharashtra state assembly.

“We have one of the historic stadiums in Mumbai in the form of Wankhede Stadium. Ashish Ji (BCCI treasurer and BJP MLA Ashish Shelar) is here. Mumbai needs a bigger stadium than Wankhede. Therefore, in the near future, our chief minister will extend all possible help to MCA and BCCI. Wankhede is a historic stadium and cannot be compared to any other. But it is time to give Mumbai a stadium with a capacity of more than one lakh,” said Fadnavis.

At present, Mumbai is the home of three international cricket stadiums: Wankhede Stadium (33,000), Brabourne Stadium (20,000), and DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai (45,000).

Wankhede hosted 2011 ODI World Cup final

The iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai hosted the 2011 ODI World Cup final as well as the first semi-final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. In addition to that, the second semi-finals of the 1987 ODI World Cup and the 2016 T20 World Cup were also played at the same venue.