Sardar Patel Stadium


The Motera Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. As of 2020, it is the largest cricket stadium in the world and the second-largest stadium overall, with a seating capacity of 110,000 spectators. It is owned by the Gujarat Cricket Association and is a venue for Test, ODI, and T20I 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 and an increase in capacity to 110,000.
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. The pitch used to favour bowlers previously but has recently hosted competitive games. As of 2020, the stadium has hosted 12 Tests, 23 ODIs, and 1 T20Is matches.
The stadium hosted the opening of "Namaste Trump", the inaugural visit of US President Donald Trump on 24 February 2020.

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 in the Navrangpura area. In 1982, the Government of Gujarat donated a 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 Australia defeated India.
Sunil Gavaskar was the first cricketer to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket against Pakistan in the stadium in 1987. 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 (Rise to prominence)

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 a One Day International cricket match. As of 19 August 2017, Sardar Patel has hosted 12 Tests, 23 ODIs and 1 T20I.

2015–2020 (Reconstruction)

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. However, the final cost was reported at ₹800 crores. The redevelopment, originally planned to be completed in 2019, finished in February 2020.

Conception

The idea to build the new stadium was allegedly 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 when he learned about the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

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 of nine experts was formed to evaluate tenders. Additionally, STUP Consultants 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.
BidderBidEvaluationNotes
Larsen & ToubroLowest-1 Winning bid. Financially lowest and technically ranked first.
Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd.Lowest-2
Nagarjuna Construction Co. Ltd.Highest

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 ₹ 7 billion. Finishing touches were given to the stadium in February 2020 and it is expected to host an England-India day-night test match by 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.

Stadium Design

The redesigned stadium occupies 63 acres of land, with three entry points 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 anti-bacterial, fireproof canopy with PTFE membrane that covers 30 out of 55 metres 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. Sardar Patel 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 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.

Major events

Namaste Trump

The stadium was the venue of the Namaste Trump event and hosted US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi on 24 February 2020. The event mirrored the "Howdy Modi" event held in Houston, Texas.

Records

Test match records

Kapil Dev 9/83 – India v West Indies, 12 Nov 1983
Venkatapathy Raju 11/125 – India v Sri Lanka, 8 Feb 1994
Sardar Patel Stadium was where some notable events occurred:
Sardar Patel Stadium has hosted One Day Internationals for all the Cricket World Cup held in India.

1987 Cricket World Cup

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1996 Cricket World Cup

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2011 Cricket World Cup

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Gallery