Narendra Modi Stadium

The Narendra Modi Stadium is the first public structure in India to be named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is located inside the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave in Ahmedabad. As of 2022, it is the largest cricket stadium in the world, with a seating capacity of 132,000 spectators.

The first test match was hosted in November 1983 and has witnessed some memorable achievements in the field such as - Sunil Gavaskar scored his 10,000 Test runs against Pakistan in 1986–87, and seven years later, Kapil Dev claimed his 432^nd Test wicket to become the highest wicket-taker in the world in 1994 by surpassing Sir Richard Hadlee. In addition, the stadium hosted Cricket World Cup in 1987, 1996, and 2011. It should also be mentioned that the stadium has hosted its first-ever pink-ball Test match between India and England on February 24, 2021.

History

Formerly known as Gujarat Stadium, it was renamed in tribute to Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel, India's first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. In 1982, the Government of Gujarat donated 100-acres of land on the banks of the Sabarmati River to build a new stadium. The construction was completed within nine months and hosted its first ODI in 1984 – 1985 played between Australia-India, where India was defeated by Australia.

The stadium became the centerpiece of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 and hosted five of the 15 matches which were played here. To host the tournament, the stadium was renovated to add three new pitches and a new outfield. Floodlights and covered stands were introduced to the stadium as a part of the renovation program.

Sardar Patel Stadium has always been one of the leading venues, whenever India has hosted the Cricket World Cup, including the first match of the 1996 World Cup which was played between England and New Zealand. Although only one game was played in 1987 and 1996, but later, in 2011 World Cup, it has hosted three matches, including the quarter-final between Australia and India. As of 19 August 2017, Sardar Patel stadium has hosted 12 Tests, 23 ODIs and 1 T20 matches.

Gujarat Cricket Association under the visionary leadership of GCA President and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to reconstruct the stadium and make it the largest Cricket Stadium in the world. In October 2015, the stadium was closed and demolished for reconstruction. The total cost of reconstruction was estimated to be ₹700 crores. However, the final cost was reported at ₹800 crore. The redevelopment was originally planned to be completed in 2019, but it was finished in February 2020.

The president Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the stadium in the presence of home minister Amit Shah and sports minister Kiren Rijiju, amongst a host of other dignitaries on 24th February, 2021.

 “As children, we used to dream about the world’s largest stadium in India. And now as sports minister, my happiness knows no bounds that this has finally happened,” said Rijiju at the inauguration ceremony.

Construction Details

• The Narendra Modi Stadium was planned and designed by POPULOUS, a sports-architecture company based in Australia and was constructed in collaboration with the India's top contractor Larsen & Toubro.
• The stadium has two levels of seating - the lower and upper bowl. The upper bowl consists of Y-shaped columns located on the perimeter of the grid called G and H. These columns are named as GY and HY. Primary radial beams are connected with these columns.
• The total area of ​​the stadium is equivalent to 32 Olympic-sized football fields.
• The roof structure at Motera Stadium was particularly one of the complex parts of the project, with Walter P Moore serving as roof structural engineer. Viral Patel, Director of Design at Walter P Moore stated that Motera Stadium is located in a level three seismic zone, which means that the roof should be lightweight in order to reduce the seismic demand and develop an economical roof system. They decided that the best option would be to incorporate a lightweight, cable-supported tensile membrane roof. Additionally, they decided that the reinforced concrete bowl and the roof structure needed to be independent of each other to make it earthquake resistant.

Stadium Design and Facilities

• The stadium occupies 63 acres of land, with four entry points to the stadium, which has a metro line at one entry point.
• The field size of the stadium is 180 yards x 150 yards.
• It has 76 corporate boxes that can hold 25 persons in each box, a 55-room clubhouse, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and four dressing rooms for teams.
• A unique feature of the stadium is the LED lights on the roof instead of the usual floodlights in the cricket ground. The LED lights are installed on an anti-bacterial, fireproof canopy with PTFE membrane sourced from Japan that covers 30m of the 55m width of the seating area.
• To provide rain and sun protection for fans, the stadium features a translucent circular PTFE fiberglass tensile membrane roof made by the company Walter P Moore. It was specifically designed to be lightweight and separate from the seating bowl to make it earthquake resistant. The structure eliminates the need for columns and gives its audience an unobstructed view of the entire field from any location in the stadium.
• Outside the ground, the stadium is also able to accommodate several other facilities, including swimming pool, an indoor cricket academy, badminton and tennis courts, a squash field, a table tennis field, a 3D projector theater and a clubhouse with three practice grounds and 50 rooms.
• There are four team dressing rooms with associated facilities for the players.
• The parking can accommodate 3,000 cars and 10,000 two-wheelers. A huge ramp has also been built at the Narendra Modi Stadium to facilitate the movement of about 60,000 people at a time. The stadium is designed in such a way that patrons fill the lower levels of the ground for smaller events to maintain a crowded atmosphere when not fully occupied. The stadium is connected to the metro station by skywalk to reduce road congestion.
• The Narendra Modi Stadium will be used for community other than local and international cricket matches. The stadium has an indoor cricket academy under the podium, with a hostel for 40 athletes, which can be attended by students from all over India and around the world.
• The academy has access to six indoor practice pitches and three outdoor practice areas.

Stakeholders

• Project Manager – Rajiv Sharma
• Operator – Gujarat Cricket Association
• 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)
• Architect – Populous (reconstruction) , Shashi Prabhu (former structure)
• Constructor – Larsen & Toubro

Statistics – Test

Statistics – ODI

Statistics – T20

Significant Events

• 1983 - Motera stadium was constructed
• 1987 - Hosted a match at the Cricket World Cup – Zimbabwe vs India. India won the match by 7 wickets.
• 1987- Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar scored 10,000 runs in Test cricket.
• 1995 - Kapil Dev took his 432nd wicket in Test cricket to pass Sir Richard Hadlee's record.
• 1996 - Hosted a match of the Cricket World Cup
• 1999- Sachin Tendulkar scored his first Test Match double-hundred against New Zealand.
• 2011 - India defeated Australia in the quarterfinal of the ODI World Cup
• 2015 - Stadium was closed and demolished
• 2020 - Rebuild completed
• 2020 - The stadium was the venue of the Namaste Trump event that hosted US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi.
• 2021 - The stadium was renamed as Narendra Modi Stadium at the inauguration ceremony
• 2021- Ishant Sharma is the second Indian pacer to complete 100 Tests after Kapil Dev. He was congratulated by the President (Ram Nath Kovind) and Secretary of India (Amit Shah).
• 2021- Sachin Tendulkar completed 18,000 runs in his ODI in this match.
• 2022- IPL has set a new Guinness World Record for the Largest Cricket Jersey. It was displayed during the closing ceremony. The jersey was white in color and had the logos of all the 10 IPL teams with number 15 printed on it, celebrating 15 years of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The certificate was presented to the BCCI - President Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah, and IPL chairman Brijesh Patel.