Narendra Modi Stadium

The Narendra Modi Stadium (NMS), formerly known as Motera Stadium, is an international cricket stadium in 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 the venue for domestic and international cricket matches. It is one of the world's premier cricket stadiums.

The Narendra Modi Stadium stands on the same plot where the Sardar Patel Stadium was present from 1982 to 2015, until its demolition. It served as the main venue of domestic and international cricket in the city until 2015. It hosted some matches during the 1987, 1996, and 2011 ICC World Cups. The Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) scrapped the Sardar Patel Stadium in 2015 to build a state of the art and the world's biggest cricket stadium. The Narendra Modi stadium is designed by Australia's design firm Populous and built by Larsen and Toubro. It took 5 years to build, at an estimated cost of inr 8000000000. The arena replaced the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground as the world's largest cricket stadium. The headquarter of the GCA is located in its premises. The Narendra Modi stadium has 4 dressing rooms, 11 center pitches, and 2 practice grounds that can host practice as well as domestic matches etc.

On 24 February 2021, the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA), named this newly built stadium as the Narendra Modi Stadium in honour of the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, who was the president of the GCA (2009–2014) and the chief minister of Gujarat (2001–2014). In 2021, the stadium was inaugurated by the president of India, Ram Nath Kovind, in an event he presided over.

It was first opened to the public in 2020 amid the Namaste Trump event, organized for president of the United States Donald Trump. On 24 February 2021, the Narendra Modi stadium hosted its first Test match, when home side India played against England, it was also its first day-night test game. On 29 September 2022, the opening ceremony of the 36th National games was held in the stadium.

The arena hosted the final match of the 2023 ICC World Cup on 19 November.

1982–2006
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 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 lost.

At the arena Sunil Gavaskar became the first batter to score 10,000 runs in the Test cricket, he accomplished 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 105–223.

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 WC.

During the 1996 South Africa (SA) tour of India, in the tour's opening match, they needed 170 runs to win. India's fast bowler Javagal Srinath did an incredible performance by taking 6 wickets spending just 21 runs and led his side to victory.

2006–2015
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.

In 2010's New Zealand tour of India, the 1st Test of the series was held at the venue in which Kane Williamson scored a hundred on his Test debut.

It hosted three games in the 2011 World Cup, including the quarter-finals between Australia- India. Sachin Tendulkar became the first cricketer to score 18,000 runs in ODIs.

2015–2020 (construction of new stadium)
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 (inr 7000000000). However, the final cost was reported at inr 8000000000. 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 Gujarat at the time it was his dream project. 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 GCA issued a request for tender on 1 January 2016 in The Times of India and The Indian Express newspapers. 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.

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

Building 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 collaborate with Populous and L&T on all the food and beverage-related areas such as concession counters, main stadium kitchens, player kitchens, VIP/VVIP boxes, corporate boxes, press & media boxes, pantries, GCA Club and related areas.

2020–present
In 2020 the event "Namaste Trump" was organised at the stadium for the visit of US President Donald Trump. 125,000 attendees were recorded. The announcement to name the project "Narendra Modi Stadium" came in February 2021. Congress initially criticized the decision, before it was made clear that the complex would continue to hold the name "Sardar Patel Sports Enclave", and only the stadium would receive a new name.

PM Modi inaugurated 2022 national games in the arena. The new stadium hosted its first Test match (England vs India), it was also its first-ever Day-night test. It became the home ground of IPL team Gujrat Titans. The venue hosted the 2022 and 2023 IPL finals.

The arena is scheduled to host 5 matches of the ICC World Cup 2023, including the first and the final game, high-profile India v Pakistan and Australia vs England games.

Stadium design and facilities
The Narendra Modi stadium has a two tier structure and a three tier main pavilion. The arena is built on 63 acres of land and has 4 entry points, with a metro line at one of the entry points. It has 76 corporate boxes that can hold 25 persons each, a 55-room clubhouse, an Olympic size swimming pool, and four dressing rooms. A food court and hospitality area is available in each spectator stand. The stadium also includes an indoor cricket academy and practice pitches, with dormitories for 40 athletes. The stadium features an LED light system on all parts of the roof's inside edge, setting it apart from most stadiums which use floodlight towers, with an effect being to reduce shadows on the pitch. The LED lights are installed on an antibacterial, fireproof canopy with PTFE membrane that covers 30 m out of 55 m width of the seating area. The roof was installed by Walter P Moore firm, who specifically designed it to be lightweight and separate from the seating bowls in order to make it fairly earthquake resistant. Larsen and Toubro was the main building contractor of the arena; they worked in collaboration with foreign firms from Australia, Japan, Spain, United States and Italy. They assigned Australia's Populous company to design the stadium; their architect Andrew James led most of the work. The firm is notable for designing the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The two tier structure of the Narendra Modi Stadium is supported from beneath by numerous huge Y-shaped columns, which eliminate the need for pillars inside the arena and thus gives spectators an unobstructed view of the entire field from any place in the Stadium. Each column's weight is 280 tonnes. They are about 30 meters tall, and were Precasted in huge moulds and assembled on the stadium building site. The fabric of the roof is imported from Japan, the LED lighting was installed by a Spain-based firm, and an Italian firm installed cables on which the Japanese company company fitted the roof fabric. The ground has 11 centre pitches, playing field has sensors to detect the need of water for the grass, which can automatically activate 67 fully automated underground pop-up sprinklers. The ground has Bermuda grass surface, seeds for which were purchased from the USA. The stadium has a high-tech drainage system. The stadium premises has many facilities: it has an indoor cricket practice area, badminton and tennis courts, a Squash, table tennis area, 3D projector theater and 3 practice grounds and 50 rooms. The parking lot can accommodate 3,000 cars and 10,000 two-wheelers. It has a huge ramp designed to facilitate the movement of around 60,000 people simultaneously. The arena has been designed in such a way that patrons can fill the lower tier of the stadium for smaller events to maintain the crowd atmosphere when not at full capacity.

There was a plan that the stadium would be connected to the nearest metro station by a skywalk bridge in order to decrease road congestion. It was said that construction would be completed after September 2020, as part of the Motera Metro Station project rather than the stadium's. As of November 2023, the skywalk is yet to be constructed.

Namaste Trump
In 2020, the stadium was the venue of the "Namaste Trump event", 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
On March 9, 2023, the Narendra Modi Stadium hosted the 75 Years of Friendship through Cricket Event, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The event was held in conjunction with the fourth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia.

The event began with the two prime ministers singing the national anthems of their respective countries and shaking hands with the players of both teams. They then visited a gallery showcasing glimpses of 75 years of cricket friendship between the two countries. After the gallery visit, the two prime ministers took a lap of honor around the stadium in a specially designed golf cart. They were greeted by loud cheers from the crowd, who waved Indian and Australian flags. The event concluded with the two prime ministers tossing the coin to start the Test match.

The 75 Years of Friendship through Cricket Event was a celebration of the strong ties between India and Australia, which have been forged over many years through the shared love of cricket. The event was also an opportunity to promote sports diplomacy and to encourage people from both countries to come together and celebrate their friendship.

ICC World Cup matches
Erstwhile Sardar Patel Stadium had hosted matches of ICC World cups :

Domestic Cricket
The stadium is home ground of Gujarat cricket team, Gujarat women's cricket team and the IPL franchise Gujarat Titans. Other than the main ground inside the stadium, it also have two grounds known as "Narendra Modi Stadium A Ground and Narendra Modi Stadium B Ground" which are located near the stadium on East side, they host domestic cricket matches of tournaments including the Ranji trophy. The stadium hosted the finals of 2022 and 2023 IPL, in earlier home team Gujarat Titans won the edition, in latter Chennai Super Kings won their 5th title and equalled most trophies record with Mumbai Indians. Vijay Hazare one day trophy's 2022 edition final was held inside the arena, Maharashtra cricket team scored 248/9 in first inning, Saurashtra chased down it in 46.3 over. Maharashtra's Ruturaj Gaikwad and Saurashtra 's Sheldon Jackson scored hundreds.

In previous arena

 * Sunil Gavaskar completed his 10,000 runs in Test cricket, while playing against Pakistan in 1986-87.
 * 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.
 * On 16 November 2009, Tendulkar crossed landmark of thirty thousand runs and 20 years in international level.
 * Tendulkar became the first-ever cricketer to score 18,000 runs in ODI format in a match against Australia during 2011 Cricket World Cup.
 * In 2008, AB de Villiers scored his maiden test double century.

In present arena

 * The arena hosted its first day night test game between India-England on 24 Feb 2021.
 * 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.
 * 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.

Test match records
(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.
 * 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:
 * 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).

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: Devon Conway 152 (121) (19x4 ; 3x6) - New Zealand v England, 2023.
 * Best bowling: Prasidh Krishna 4/14 (9.0 overs) – India v West Indies, 9 February 2022.
 * Most runs: Rohit Sharma – 354 runs.
 * Most wickets: Kapil Dev (India) 10 Wickets (Mat:6 Runs:156 Best:3/26 Ave:15.60 Econ:3.04).

In media

 * In 2021, the stadium was featured in an episode of History TV18's documentary show Modern Marvels. The episode depicted the entire construction of the stadium.