The Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad has been renamed to Narendra Modi stadium, after the prime minister. This stadium was refurbished and inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Key Points
- Narendra Modi stadium is said to be the world’s largest cricket stadium.
- The stadium has a capacity to accommodate 1.32 lakh spectators.
- The stadium will be a part of the larger planned Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave in the city.
- Home minister Amit Shah and Sports minister Kiren Rijiju were also present at the inauguration event.
- The stadium will open with the third Test between India and England, a day-night game from February 24.
- The stadium will also be hosting the fourth and final game of the series from March 4.
- This stadium was conceptualized by PM Narendra Modi while being the chief minister of Gujarat. He was also the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association at that time.
- The Narendra Modi stadium is spread over an area of 63 acres.
- It has surpassed the Melbourne Cricket Ground in seating capacity. The Melbourne Cricket Ground can accommodate 90,000 spectators.
- The stadium has been built at an approximate cost of Rs 800 crore.
- The stadium was closed for renovation in the year 2015. The previous avatar of the stadium has also witnessed some major milestones in Indian cricket.
- These milestones included Kapil Dev claiming his 432nd Test wicket to become the highest wicket-taker in the world in 1994, and Sunil Gavaskar reaching the 10,000 runs mark in Test cricket against Pakistan in 1987.
Australian architect firm Populous is the architect of the new stadium. The firm has also designed the Melbourne Cricket Stadium. The stadium has 11 pitches made of both red and black soil and is the only stadium in the world to have the same soil surfaces for the main and practice pitches.
