Narendra Modi Stadium

Narendra Modi Stadium

GCA Stadium Motera Stadium
The Narendra Modi stadium (New Structure)
Full name	Narendra Modi Stadium
Former names	Motera Cricket Stadium
Address	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Complex Ahmedabad India
Location	Motera, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Coordinates	23.092°N 72.597°E / 23.092; 72.597
Public transit	station at Narendra Modi stadium
Owner	Gujarat Cricket Association
Operator	Gujarat Cricket Association
Seating type	Sloped
Executive suites	76
Capacity	132,000 (2020–present) 54,000 (2006–2015) 49,000 (1982–2006)
Record attendance	101,566 (2022 IPL Final)
Field size	160 metres (180 yd) x 140 metres (150 yd)
Surface	Australian Grass (Oval)
Construction
Broke ground	1983 (former structure) 2017 (expansion)
Built	12 November 1983 (former structure) 24 February 2020 (post expansion)
Opened	12 November 1983 (former structure) 24 February 2020 (post expansion)
Renovated	24 February 2020
Expanded	24 February 2020
Closed	2015 (former structure)
Demolished	2015 (former structure)
Construction cost	₹800 crore (US$92 million) (reconstruction, 2017–2020)
Architect	Populous (reconstruction) Shashi Prabhu (former structure)
General contractor	Larsen & Toubro
Tenants
Gujarat Titans (2022–present) Gujarat cricket team (1983–present) Indian Cricket Team (1983–present) India women's national cricket team (2011–present) Rajasthan Royals (2010–2014)
Website
gujaratcricketassociation.com
Ground information
Location	Motera, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Capacity	132,000
Operator	Gujarat Cricket Association
End names
Adani Pavilion End Reliance End
International information
First Test	12–16 November 1983: India v West Indies
Last Test	9–13 March 2023: India v Australia
First ODI	5 October 1984: India v Australia
Last ODI	11 February 2022: India v West Indies
First T20I	28 December 2012: India v Pakistan
Last T20I	1 February 2023: India v New Zealand
First WODI	12 March 2012: India v Australia
Last WODI	12 April 2013: India v Bangladesh
First WT20I	22 January 2011: India v West Indies
Last WT20I	24 January 2011: India v West Indies
As of 9 March 2023 Source: Cricinfo

The Narendra Modi Stadium (formerly known as Motera Stadium) is a cricket stadium situated in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Complex, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is the largest stadium in the world, with a seating capacity of 132,000 spectators. The stadium is owned by the Gujarat Cricket Association and serves as a venue for Test, ODI, T20I, FC, List-A, T20 and Indian Premier League cricket matches.

The stadium was constructed in 1983 and was first renovated in 2006. It became the regular venue for international matches in the city. In 2015, the stadium was closed and demolished before being completely rebuilt by February 2020, with an estimated cost of ₹800 crore (US$92 million).

Apart from cricket, the stadium has hosted several programs arranged by the Government of Gujarat. It has hosted matches during the 1987, 1996, and 2011 Cricket World Cups. As of 2022, the stadium has hosted 14 Tests, 27 ODIs, 6 T20s matches and 2 IPL matches

On 24 February 2021, the stadium was renamed as the Narendra Modi Stadium by the Gujarat Cricket Association after the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, a Gujarat native, who was also the president of Gujarat Cricket Association (2009–2014) and the chief minister of the state from 2001 - 2014. It hosted its first ever pink ball test match on 24 February 2021 between India and England.

The arena will host the final of the 2023 ICC World Cup on 19 November.

History

1982–2006 (Early years)

Formerly known as the Gujarat Stadium, the ground was renamed in tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. Before the Sardar Patel Stadium, international cricket matches in the city were played at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's stadium of the same name (Sardar Patel Stadium) in the Navrangpura area. In 1982, the Government of Gujarat donated a 400,000-square-metre (100-acre) stretch of land on the banks of the Sabarmati River to build a new stadium. The construction of the Sardar Patel Stadium was completed in nine months. Since then, all International cricket fixtures for the city are hosted here. In the 1984-85 Australia India series, Sardar Patel Stadium hosted its first ODI, in which India was lost.

At the arena Sunil Gavaskar became the first ever batter to score 10,000 runs in the Test cricket, he did the feat against Pakistan in their 1987 tour. In 1983, Kapil Dev took a nine-wicket haul against the West Indies in 1983, and claimed his 432nd Test wicket at the stadium to become the highest wicket-taker in the world in 1995, which broke Sir Richard Hadlee's previous record. In 1996, the ground hosted a low-scoring Test match against South Africa, where the visitors lost 105–170. Javagal Srinath took six wickets in the fourth inning of the match. South Africa won in a rematch game when they bowled India out for 76 runs in the first session of the Test match in 2008 and won the game by an inning and 90 runs.

2006–2015

Sardar Patel Stadium (before reconstruction)

The stadium became a focal venue of ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 and hosted five of the 15 games played. In order to host the tournament, the stadium was renovated to add three new pitches and a new outfield. Floodlights and covered stands were introduced at the stadium as a part of the renovation program.

The Sardar Patel Stadium has hosted games whenever India has hosted the Cricket World Cup, including the first match of the 1996 World Cup between England and New Zealand. However, while the stadium hosted only one game each in 1987 and 1996, it hosted three games in the 2011 World Cup, including the quarter-finals between Australia and India. Sachin Tendulkar became the first cricketer to score 18,000 runs in One Day Internationals. As of 19 August 2017, Sardar Patel has hosted 12 Tests, 23 ODIs and 1 T20I.

2015–2020 (Reconstruction)

US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Narendra Modi Stadium, 24 February 2020.

In October 2015, the stadium was demolished for reconstruction, though some media referred to it as a renovation. The total cost of reconstruction was estimated to be ₹700 crores (₹7 billion (US$80 million)). However, the final cost was reported at ₹800 crore (US$92 million). The redevelopment, originally planned to be completed in 2019, finished in February 2020.

Conception

The idea to build the new stadium was reportedly proposed by Narendra Modi, the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association and the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time. Shortly before Modi moved to Delhi after becoming the Prime Minister of India, there were discussions about minor upgrades to the stadium and development of the structure at the pavilion end. Modi asked the officials to build a new larger stadium instead of minor renovation work.

Bids

After starting demolition work at the end of 2015, the Gujarat Cricket Association issued a request for tender on 1 January 2016 in The Times of India and The Indian Express. Nine bidders showed interest and purchased the tender documents, out of which three submitted Technical and Financial bids on time; they were the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Nagarjuna Construction Company, and Larsen & Toubro. A Tender Commercial Committee (TCC) of nine experts was formed to evaluate tenders. Additionally, STUP Consultants, a Civil Engineering consultancy firm based in Mumbai, was appointed as the Project Management Consultant to evaluate proposals and technical details of each bid working with the TCC.

Each of the three bidders presented their designs, models, and technical details of their concepts & designs. Because of the sheer size and complexity of the project, the bidders were evaluated on multiple parameters like efficiency, resources, the time frame of completion, ease of implementation etc. The bidders were ranked and weighted on all of the parameters.

Bids Submitted for Sardar Patel's Reconstruction

Bidder	Bid	Evaluation	Notes
Larsen & Toubro	₹677.19 crore (US$78 million)	Lowest-1 (L1)	Winning bid. Financially lowest and technically ranked first.
Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd.	₹847.88 crore (US$97 million)	Lowest-2 (L2)
Nagarjuna Construction Co. Ltd.	₹1,065 crore (US$120 million)	Highest (L3)

In the end, L&T was finalized as the Principal Contractor to build and design the stadium.

Work

L&T took over the construction work of the stadium in December 2016. On 16 January 2017, the Gujarat Cricket Association oversaw the project, which formally began on the same day. The stadium was planned to be finished in 2 years and the reconstruction project was estimated to cost around ₹700 crore ($93 million). Finishing touches were given to the stadium in February 2020 and it hosted an England-India day-night test match in 2021.

Mumbai-based Commercial Kitchen Consultants "Span Asia" were hired to work with Populous and L&T on all the F&B Related areas such as the Concession Counters, Main Stadium Kitchens, Player Kitchens, VIP/VVIP Boxes, Corporate Boxes, Press & Media Boxes, Pantries, GCA Club and Related areas.

2020–present

PM Modi inaugurated 2022 national games in the arena.

Stadium design and facilities

The redesigned stadium occupies 63 acres of land, with three entry points as compared to one in the old stadium, with a metro line at one of the entry points. It contains 76 corporate boxes that can hold 25 persons each, a 55-room clubhouse, an Olympic sized swimming pool, and four dressing rooms. A unique feature of the stadium is the LED lights on the roof instead of the usual floodlights at cricket grounds. The LED lights are installed on an antibacterial, fireproof canopy with PTFE membrane that covers 30 metres (98 ft) out of 55 metres (180 ft) width of sitting area. The roof was done by the company Walter P Moore and was specifically designed to be lightweight and separate from the seating bowls in order to make it fairly earthquake resistant. The structure eliminates the need for pillars and gives spectators an unobstructed view of the entire field from any place in the Stadium.

Outside of the main ground, the stadium is able to accommodate several other features, including an Olympic-sized swimming pool, an indoor cricket academy, badminton and tennis courts, a Squash arena, a table tennis area, a 3D projector theater, and a clubhouse with three practice grounds and 50 rooms. The parking lot can accommodate 3,000 cars and 10,000 two-wheelers. The Narendra Modi Stadium also has a huge ramp designed to facilitate the movement of around 60,000 people simultaneously. The stadium has been designed such that patrons fill the lower levels of the ground for smaller events to maintain the crowd atmosphere when not at full capacity.

It has also been planned that the stadium will be connected to the metro station by a skywalk to decrease road congestion. The skywalk is planned to be completed after September 2020, and is a part of the Motera Metro Station project rather than the stadium's.

The total area of the stadium is equivalent to 32 Football fields. It is also the only stadium in the world with 11 centre pitches on the main ground.

2023 ICC World Cup

The arena is scheduled to host the first and the final games of the 2023 ICC World Cup. It will host the high-profile India v Pakistan and Australia vs England games.

Political events

Namaste Trump

Further information: India–United States relations

The jam-packed stadium amid Namaste Trump event, while US president Donald Trump giving his speech.

The stadium was the venue of the Namaste Trump event in 2020, which was organised for maiden visit of President Trump by Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi. The event mirrored the "Howdy Modi" event held in Houston, Texas.

75 years of Friendship through Cricket Event

See also: Australia–India relations

Australian PM Anthony Albanese (left) and Indian PM Narendra Modi with the Australia cricket team captain Steve Smith (far left) and India cricket team skipper R. Sharma at the event - 75 years of friendship through cricket.

The stadium was the venue for the fourth test match of the Border Gavaskar trophy, In 2023 Australia tour of India, where the Indian PM Narendra Modi and Australian PM Anthony Albanese participated in an event to celebrate 75 years of diplomatic and cricket relations between both the nations.

History of Cricket World Cup

Sardar Patel Stadium has hosted One Day Internationals (ODIs) for all the Cricket World Cups held in India.

1987 Cricket World Cup

26 October 1987

Zimbabwe 191/7 (50 overs)	v	India 194/3 (42 overs)
Kevin Arnott 60(126) Chetan Sharma 41/2 Kapil Dev 44/2		Navjot Sidhu 55(61) PW Rawson 46/2

India won by 7 wickets Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Umpires: David Archer and Dickie Bird Player of the match: Kapil Dev

• India won the toss and elected to field

1996 Cricket World Cup

14 February 1996

New Zealand 239/6 (50 overs)	v	England 228/9 (50 overs)
Nathan Astle 101(132) Graeme Hick 45/2		Graeme Hick 85(102) Dion Nash 26/3

New Zealand won by 11 runs Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Umpires: B. C. Cooray and Steve Randell Player of the match: Nathan Astle

• England won the toss and elected to field

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2011 Cricket World Cup

21 February 2011 (D/N)

Australia 262/6 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 171 (46.2 overs)
Shane Watson 79(92) Christopher Mpofu 58/2		Graeme Cremer 37(51) Mitchell Johnson 19/4

Australia won by 91 runs Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Attendance: 18,569 Umpires: Richard Kettleborough and Asoka de Silva Player of the match: Shane Watson

• Australia won the toss and elected to bat

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4 March 2011 (D/N)

Zimbabwe 162 (46.2 overs)	v	New Zealand 166/0 (33.3 overs)
Brendan Taylor 44(57) Tim Southee 29/3		Martin Guptill 86*(108) Brendon McCullum 76*(95)

New Zealand won by 10 wickets Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Attendance: 7,000 Umpires: Aleem Dar and Marais Erasmus Player of the match: Martin Guptill

• Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bat first

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24 March 2011 (D/N)

Australia 260/6 (50 overs)	v	India 261/5 (47.4 overs)
Ricky Ponting 104(118) Yuvraj Singh 44/2		Yuvraj Singh 57*(65) Sachin Tendulkar 53(68) David Hussey 19/1

India won by 5 wickets Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Attendance: 51,000 Umpires: Ian Gould and Marais Erasmus Player of the match: Yuvraj Singh

• Australia won the toss and chose to bat first
• Sachin Tendulkar completed 18,000 runs in his ODI career in this match

2023 Cricket World Cup

Landmarks

The old arena (then : Patel stadium) was where some notable events occurred:

• First Day Night Test Match Played on 24 February 2021 between India vs England
• Sunil Gavaskar completed 10,000 runs in Test cricket in 1986–87 against Pakistan.
• Kapil Dev, who had taken 9 wickets in an innings in the first match on this ground, taking his 432nd wicket in Test cricket to pass Sir Richard Hadlee's record in 1994.
• In October 1999, Sachin Tendulkar scored his first Test Match double-hundred in a match against New Zealand.
• Sachin Tendulkar completed his 20 years of International Cricket in the stadium on 16 November 2009 against Sri Lanka. During the same game, Sachin Tendulkar reached a landmark of 30,000 runs in International cricket.
• Sachin Tendulkar became the first-ever cricketer to score 18,000 runs in one day cricket in a match against Australia during 2011 Cricket World Cup.
• AB de Villiers reached his first double-hundred against India during the second test of South Africa's tour to India in 2008.

In present arena

• IPL 2022 Final between the Gujarat Titans and the Rajasthan Royals. Titans won the IPL in their inaugural season. This event was attended by 104,859 people, the highest in the history of cricket and of the stadium.
• Jos Buttler scored 39 runs during the IPL 2022 final to end the season with a total of 863 runs in the season, the second-highest in IPL history at the time.
• IPL 2023 Final between the Titans and Chennai Super Kings. In his 250th IPL match, MS Dhoni captained CSK to their fifth IPL victory, tying Mumbai Indians for the record of most IPL trophies.
• In a similar fashion, Shubman Gill scored 39 runs during the IPL 2023 final to break Buttler's record, ending the season with 890 runs, the second-highest in IPL history.

Records

Test match records

• Highest innings total: Sri Lanka 760/7d – India v Sri Lanka, 2nd inning, 16 November 2009
• Lowest innings total: India 76 – India v South Africa, 1st inning, 3 April 2008
• Highest individual score: Mahela Jayawardene 275 (435) (4s-27 6s-1) – Sri Lanka v India, 16 November 2009
• Best bowling:
  (in an innings) Kapil Dev 9/83 – India v West Indies, 12 November 1983
  (in a match) Axar Patel 11/70 – India v England, 13 February 2021
• Most runs: Rahul Dravid (India) 771 Runs (Mat:7 Inn: 14 HS: 222 Ave: 59.30 SR: 49.10 100s-3 50s-1), Sachin Tendulkar – 642 runs, VVS Laxman – 574 runs
• Most wickets: Anil Kumble (India) 36 Wickets (Mat:7 Runs:964 BBI:7/115 BBM: 10/233 Ave:26.77 Econ: 2.29 SR: 70.1 5W/I: 3 10W/M:1), Harbhajan Singh- 29 wickets, Kapil Dev – 14 wickets

One Day International match records

• Highest total: South Africa 365/2 – India v South Africa, 1st innings, 27 February 2010
• Lowest total: Zimbabwe 85 – Zimbabwe v West Indies, 1st innings, 8 October 2006
• Highest individual score: Sourav Ganguly 144 (Balls:152 4x8 6x6) – India v Zimbabwe, 5 December 2000
• Best bowling: Mitchell Johnson 4/19 (9.2 overs) – Australia v Zimbabwe, 21 February 2011
• Most runs: Chris Gayle – 316 runs, Sachin Tendulkar – 215 runs
• Most wickets: Kapil Dev (India) 10 Wickets (Mat:6 Runs:156 Best:3/26 Ave:15.60 Econ:3.04), Lasith Malinga – 7 wickets, Chris Gayle- 6 wickets

Gallery

• 

  The Stadium During the Namaste Trump Event (new structure)

• 

  Iron Bull at the Stadium entrance

• 

  The GMDC Pavilion (former structure)

• 

  The Adani Pavilion from the 30 Yards circle (former structure)

• 

  The Adani Pavilion from the GMDC Pavilion end (former structure)

See also

• Sport in India

External links

• Narendra Modi Stadium at ESPNcricinfo