The Narendra Modi stadium stands on the same plot where the Sardar Patel Stadium was present from 1982 to 2015, until its demolition.[8] It served as the main venue of domestic and international cricket in the city till 2015. It hosted some matches during the
1987,
1996, and
2011 ICC World Cups.[16][17][18] 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 ₹800
crore (US$100 million). 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.[16][8][19][20]
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).[21] In 2021, the stadium was inaugurated by the president of India,
Ram Nath Kovind, in an event he presided over.[22]
It was first opened to the public in 2020 amid the
Namaste Trump event, organized for president of the United States
Donald Trump.[22] 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 ever
day-night test game.[23][19] On 29 September 2022, the opening ceremony of the
36th National games was held in the stadium.[24][25]
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.[4] 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 accomplished the feat against Pakistan in their
1987 tour.[27] 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.[28] In 1996, the ground hosted a low-scoring Test match against
South Africa, where the visitors lost 105–223.[29]
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.
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.[30]
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.[when?][citation needed]
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 (₹7 billion (US$88 million)).[31][32] However, the final cost was reported at ₹800 crore (US$100 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 Gujarat at the time it was his dream project.[20] 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.[33]
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.[34]
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.[citation needed]
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.[35] 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).[36] Finishing touches were given to the stadium in February 2020 and it hosted an
England-
India day-night test match in 2021.[37]
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.[38] 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.[39]
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.[26]
Stadium design and facilities
The Narendra Modi stadium has a two tier structure.[8] 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,[42] a 55-room clubhouse, an Olympic size swimming pool,[42][43] 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.[20] The stadium features an LED light system on the roof, setting it apart from usual stadiums which use floodlights towers. 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 the seating area. The roof was installed by
Walter P Moore firm, they specifically designed it to be lightweight and separate from the seating bowls in order to make it fairly earthquake resistant.[44]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 designed the Narendra Modi stadium. The firm is notable for designing iconic
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The two tier structure of the Narendra Modi stadium is supported from beneath by numerous huge "Y shape columns"; which eliminates 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 "Y shape" column's weight is 280 tonnes they are about 30 meter tall, they were
Precasted in huge moulds and assembled on the stadium building site, later many precasted parts were installed in this way. The fabric of the roof is imported from Japan, the LED lighting installed by a Spain-based firm, Italy's a firm installed cables on which Japan's company fitted 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 USA. The stadium has high-tech drainage system and 360° latest LED lights system, which is fitted on a ring on the inside edge of the roof, thus shadows don't form on the ground.[8]
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.[45][8] 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.[46]
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 it would complete after September 2020, it was part of the Motera Metro Station project rather than the stadium's. As of November 2023, the skywalk is yet to be constructed.[47]
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.[41] The event mirrored the "
Howdy Modi" event held in
Houston,
Texas.[48]
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.[50] 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.[51]
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.[52]
ICC World Cup matches
Erstwhile Sardar Patel Stadium had hosted matches of ICC World cups :
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.[69]
In October 1999,
Sachin Tendulkar scored his first Test Match double-hundred in a match against New Zealand.[citation needed]
On 16 November 2009, Tendulkar crossed landmark of thirty thousand runs and 20 years in international level.[citation needed]
Tendulkar became the first-ever cricketer to score 18,000 runs in ODI format in a match against
Australia during
2011 Cricket World Cup.[70]
The arena hosted its first ever
day night test game between India-England on 24 Feb 2021.[72]
IPL 2022 Final between the
Gujarat Titans and the
Rajasthan Royals. Titans won the IPL in their inaugural season.[73] This event was attended by 104,859 people, the highest in the history of cricket and of the stadium.[17]
Highest innings total:
Sri Lanka 760/7d – India v Sri Lanka, 2nd inning, 16 November 2009.[74]
Lowest innings total: India 76 – India v South Africa, 1st inning, 3 April 2008.[75]
Highest individual score:
Mahela Jayawardene 275 (435) (4s-27 6s-1) – Sri Lanka v India, 16 November 2009.[76]
Best bowling: (in an innings)
Kapil Dev 9/83 – India v West Indies, 12 November 1983.[77] (in a match)
Axar Patel 11/70 – India v England, 13 February 2021.[77]
Most wickets:
Kapil Dev (India) 10 Wickets (Mat:6 Runs:156 Best:3/26 Ave:15.60 Econ:3.04).[85]
Gallery
The Stadium During the
Namaste Trump Event (new structure)
Iron Bull at the Stadium entrance
Stadium Before renovation
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.[8]
Explanatory note
^It is said that parking for 10,000 two-wheelers and 3000 cars is available
^According to the architects, the capacity of the stadium is 110,000