Sardar Patel Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad's Motera renamed as Narendra Modi Stadium

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the newly revamped Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. The stadium was earlier named as Sardar Patel Stadium, popularly known as the Motera stadium, has been renamed after the current Prime Minister of India, who was also a former president of the Gujarat Cricket Association.

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.

Home Minister Amit Shah and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, along with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, were also present at the event. The Narendra Modi Stadium — the largest cricket ground in the world with a capacity of 1,32,000 — opens with its first international match on Wednesday, the third Day-Night Test between India and England.

Spread over 63 acres, the stadium has been built at an estimated cost of ₹800 crore. "The total area is equivalent to 32 Olympic size soccer fields put together," stated a note from the Press Information Bureau giving specifics of the enormous structure. The stadium will be a part of the planned Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave in the city.

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.

"This stadium was conceptualised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was president of the Gujarat Cricket Association at that time," President Kovind said in his address after the inauguration. "This stadium is an example of eco-friendly development," he added.

"Coupled with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave and Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, a sports complex will also be built in Naranpura. These three will be equipped to host any international sports event," Home Minister Amit Shah said at the event. "Ahmedabad will be known as the 'sports city' of India," he added. "Olympic Games can also be held here," he added.

Source: sports.ndtv.com, hindustantimes.com, zeenews.india.com, wikipedia.org

Written by Siddhant Sharma