new delhi there is no larger symbol of the global sports shutdown than crickets 110000seater sardar patel stadium in ahmedabad opened by us president donald trump but yet to see a ball bowledindias newest and the worlds biggest cricket stadium lies empty because of the coronavirus pandemic where there should be the sound of leather on willow and the roar of the crowd there is only silencejust a few weeks ago it had been packed to capacity as trump and indias prime minister narendra modi stood sidebyside in a show of pomp and ceremony for the february 24 inaugurationeclipsing australias 100000capacity melbourne cricket ground it was rumoured to be in line to host the final of this years indian premier league the worlds richest twenty20 tournament watched by millions worldwidebut then came covid19 the pandemic has brought the sporting world to a grinding halt with massive events including the tokyo olympics footballs european championships golf and tennis majors and the glitzy ipl postponedthere was hardly any time between the trump event and the pandemic a senior gujarat cricket association official said on condition of anonymity adding that once cricket resumes the stadium could be ready in doublequick timejust five percent work is remaining and it just needs the finishing touches the official addedthe board of control for cricket in india bcci has pushed back the ipl from its original start date of march 29 to april 15 but with the number of coronavirus cases in india exceeding 5000 and still rising pressure is growing for it to be shifted again truncated or scrappedthe 100million circular venue promises unobstructed views and has stateoftheart facilities including an olympicsized swimming pool as part of a multisports complexnext door a refurbished venue on the site of the former 49000capacity motera stadium will serve as a venue for cricket football and hockeycritics have charged that it is another white elephant vanity project in modis home state following the completion of the worlds largest statue there in 2018 also dedicated to independence hero sardar patelthe giant statue of unity measures 182 metres tall 597 feet twice the height of new yorks statue of libertymodi was gujarat chief minister for 13 years until 2014 and revamping the former motera stadium had been long a pet projecthome minister amit shah a close ally headed the gujarat cricket association till last year and his son jay shah is the secretary of the bcci the worlds richest and most powerful cricket boarddespite cricket being wildly popular in india domestic first class matches and even some international test matches are often played to nearempty stadiumsthe only matches guaranteed to attract big crowds are ipl games and oneday internationals and even then it depends on the quality of the oppositionthe nation of 13 billion people already has more than a dozen stadiums capable of hosting international cricket although in the offseason they can be used for other eventsyou are left wondering whether it is a rock concert