The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is one of the few sports complexes in the world that is as big and significant as it is. It is the world’s largest cricket stadium as well as the largest stadium by capacity in the world with a capacity of 132,000. It is the property of Gujarat Cricket Association and is used for domestic and international cricket matches. The stadium has been hosting several high-profile matches including the 2023 Cricket World Cup final and the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup final and will be used for the 2030 Commonwealth Games. It is located close to the Sabarmati River and is named after the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.

Here’s all there is to know about the ground the history of Motera Stadium, its record-breaking capacity, what it is like to play on the pitch, some of the records it has produced and what to do when you’re at the stadium.

Narendra Modi Stadium Ahmedabad

The stadium succeeded the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, the former host of international and domestic cricket matches in Ahmedabad, until it was demolished in 2015 and was the venue of the 1987, 1996 and 2011 Cricket World Cups. It was decided to construct another stadium on the very site in 2014 and Narendra Modi, the then President of Gujarat Cricket Association and Chief Minister of Gujarat, had suggested for a bigger stadium.

Designed by Populous, the new stadium was built by Larsen and Toubro in about five years at an estimated cost of ₹800 crore (US$83 million), formerly known as the Motera Stadium. It was completed and became the world’s largest cricket stadium after it was finished.

The new stadium was opened to the public for the first time at a “Namaste Trump” event on 24 February 2020, with an estimated attendance of 125,000 people. It was officially inaugurated by then President of India Ram Nath Kovind on 24 February 2021 and renamed “Narendra Modi Stadium” after the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi’s roles as Chief Minister of Gujarat (2001-2014) and President of Gujarat Cricket Association (2009-2014). The renaming ceremony was held only hours before the first-ever international cricket match was held at the ground — a day-night pink-ball match between India and England.

The stadium is now home to the Gujarat men’s and women’s cricket teams and the IPL team Gujarat Titans.

Narendra Modi Stadium Capacity

Officially, the stadium has a capacity of 132,000, most of which has two tiers for seating, plus a three-tier main pavilion. A slightly higher capacity figure was mentioned by some contemporary media reports around the renaming of 2021, at the time India Today reported a capacity of 1,34,000. Interestingly, the capacity of the stadium has been given by the architects themselves as 110,000, with some of the sources indicating variations due to configuration.

The ground is actually large – aside from sitting:

• It is constructed on 63 acres of land, with four entry points, one of which leads immediately to a metro station.
• It features 76 corporate boxes with a seating capacity of 25 persons each, 4 dressing rooms, 55 room clubhouse and the Olympic size swimming pool.
• There are parking areas that can hold 3,000 cars and 10,000 two-wheelers, and a ramp to accommodate up to 60,000 people at once.
• The ground has 11 centre pitches and the field itself is oval shaped with an area of 160 metres x 140 metres.
• The highest attendance for any single game was not for cricket, but for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour at the stadium which saw 111,989 fans. The highest number of people that have ever attended a cricket match there was at the Gujarat Titans vs the Rajasthan Royals final in the 2022 IPL, where 104,859 fans saw the match.

Narendra Modi Stadium Pitch Report

The Narendra Modi Stadium has 11 different playing surfaces, all of which can be clearly distinguished based on the type of soil used, the format of the game and the strip used. Six of the pitches on the stadium have black soil and the remaining five are red soil.

In Test cricket

Traditionally, the surface has been good for spinners. The spinners have taken 48 of the 40 wickets at the venue in the past five years in the Tests against England, while pacers have won just 11 wickets in the same period; and in the last 10 Tests against England, spinners have picked up 35 wickets, with the first Test finishing within two days. In the past, curators have been called upon to make more environmentally friendly tracks, with special attention to the ease with which the ball rolls, particularly for marquee Tests, including the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

In white-ball cricket (ODIs and T20s)

Pitched differently from the norm, flatter and more conducive to the batter, but not always. Often called a batsman friendly pitch, with plenty of space to score freely, there is a healthy average of 190+ in the first innings of IPL matches played in this venue. Among the off-spinsters during the ODI World Cup 2023, the pitch was described as providing extra support to fast bowlers, as it had more bounce than usual ODI World Cups and the batting was also found to be tough. Some early matches at the stadium have also given us truly high-scoring games, with a match between Gujarat Titans and the Punjab Kings churning out 475 runs.

There are several commonalities in these reports: the bowler’s decision to toss the ball is a huge consideration here, and it is not uncommon for sides to be forced to start the second innings when there is dew on the pitch, especially in day-night games. In general, the pitch is well-balanced – the batter can get value from the shots played on a decent surface, but the wide boundaries require shots to be played with precision to score rather than just muscled.

Narendra Modi Stadium Records

The ground carries records from both its current avatar and its predecessor, Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium (since the site is the same).

Test cricket records (including Sardar Patel Stadium stats)

•        Most runs: Rahul Dravid (India) — 771 runs.

•        Most wickets: Anil Kumble (India) — 36 wickets.

•        Best bowling in a match: Axar Patel — 11/70 for India v England, 13 February 2021.

•        Highest individual score at the venue in a listed World Cup game: Devon Conway — 152 for New Zealand v England, 2023.

ODI records (including Sardar Patel Stadium stats)

•        Most runs: Rohit Sharma — 355 runs.

•        Most wickets: Kapil Dev — 10 wickets.

•        Best bowling figures: Prasidh Krishna — 4/14 for India v West Indies, 9 February 2022.

Historic milestones at the old and new ground (per the Gujarat Cricket Association)

•        In 1986–87 against Pakistan, Sunil Gavaskar completed 10,000 Test runs here, becoming the format’s highest run-scorer at the time.

•        In February 1994, Kapil Dev took his 432nd Test wicket at the venue, surpassing Richard Hadlee’s record.

•        On 8 February 1994, Sagi Lakshmi Venkatapathy Raju returned figures of 11 wickets in a match against Sri Lanka.

•        In 2008, AB de Villiers scored a double-century against India during South Africa’s tour.

•        In 2011, India beat Australia in a World Cup quarter-final at the ground.

•        In 2013, Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to reach 30,000 international runs at the venue.

Records from the rebuilt stadium (post-2020)

•        England’s entire batting line-up reached double figures against New Zealand in October 2023 — the first such instance in ODI history.

•        In the 2026 T20 World Cup final, India posted 255/5, the highest-ever total in a T20 World Cup final, and became the first team to successfully defend the title as well as the first to win it on home soil.

•        Jasprit Bumrah broke Ravichandran Ashwin’s record for most wickets by an Indian in the T20 World Cup during the 2026 tournament.

•        In IPL cricket, Shubman Gill holds the venue records for both the highest individual score and most runs in a single season (572 runs in 2023), and Gujarat Titans hold the unwanted record of the lowest team total (89) at the ground, set in 2024.

Narendra Modi Stadium Matches

The stadium has hosted an extraordinary run of marquee fixtures since 2021.

2023 ODI Cricket World Cup

It featured the final of the tournament, the opening match between England and New Zealand as well as a high stakes India vs Pakistan matchup in the group stage, and an Australia vs England group match. In the final, Australia beat India by six wickets to win a record sixth World Cup title, in front of a crowd of 92,453.

2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

The ground was utilised for seven matches throughout the whole tournament, including the group stage matches between South Africa and Netherlands, between India and South Africa and with New Zealand in the Super 8 stage and in the final between India and New Zealand, where India took a 96-run victory.

IPL Finals

The stadium has hosted the 2022, 2023, 2025, and 2026 IPL finals. Gujarat Titans also won the first of their 2022 titles on home ground in the first season of the new IPL, while Chennai Super Kings won their fifth title here in 2023, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru won back-to-back titles here in 2025 and 2026.

Other notable events

•        The 2022 National Games of India held its opening ceremony at the stadium.

•        On 9 March 2023, the stadium hosted the “75 Years of Friendship through Cricket” event, attended by PM Narendra Modi and Australian PM Anthony Albanese, alongside a Border–Gavaskar Trophy Test.

•        Coldplay played two sold-out shows here on 25 and 26 January 2025 as part of their Music of the Spheres World Tour.

Motera Stadium

This was originally called Motera Stadium, which remains a common name in more informal references and speech today. The original ground was built in 1982, and had approximately 49,000 seated capacity.

The older stadium was demolished in October 2015 for reconstruction, the work for which was estimated to be in the vicinity of ₹700 crore, but ended up at ₹800 crore. Nine bidders had expressed interest in the tender, and Larsen & Toubro had put in the lowest and technically the best bid of ₹677.19 crore.Total of nine bidders had expressed interest in the tender, with Larsen & Toubro offering the lowest and technically the best bid of ₹677.19 crore ahead of Shapoorji Pallonji and Nagarjuna Construction. In December 2016, construction was handed over to L&T and the project officially commenced on 16 January 2017.

The name ‘Motera’ still stands because it is the neighbourhood and not the stadium; the stadium is located in the Sardar vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave in Motera, Ahmedabad and only got officially renamed ‘Narendra Modi Stadium’ in February 2021 after the stadium was completed.

Narendra Modi Stadium Location

The stadium is located in Motera, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave, and sits near the banks of the Sabarmati River.

Getting there

•        By Metro: The Motera Stadium Metro Station, on the Ahmedabad Metro’s North-South corridor, is just a few hundred metres from the main entrance and is generally the most efficient way to reach the ground.

•        By Air: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD) is roughly 8–10 km away, with taxis typically taking 20–30 minutes depending on traffic.

•        By Train: The stadium is approximately 11 km from Ahmedabad Junction (Kalupur) railway station, and the nearby Sabarmati railway station in the area adjacent to Motera offers another rail option closer to the ground.

•        By Road: Local AMTS city buses serve Motera through several stops on Motera Stadium Road, and GSRTC state buses connecting Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar also pass nearby.

On match days, expect heavy congestion — most locals and visiting fans are advised to prioritise the metro over private vehicles given the scale of crowds the venue can pull in.

FAQ’S

Sources

This article was researched and fact-checked using the following sources:

• Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narendra_Modi_Stadium
• Gujarat Cricket Association (official) — https://gujaratcricketassociation.com/narendra-modi-stadium/
• ESPNcricinfo (Ground profile) — https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricket-grounds/narendra-modi-stadium-motera-ahmedabad-57851
• BCCI — Venues — https://www.bcci.tv/venues
• FanCode — Venue pitch reports and T20 statistics — https://www.fancode.com
• CrickTimes — IPL stats and records at Narendra Modi Stadium — https://crickettimes.com
• T20 Head-to-Head — IPL records at the Narendra Modi Stadium — https://t20-head-to-head.com/ipl-records-at-the-narendra-modi-stadium/
• ProPakistani — 2023 World Cup venue pitch analysis — https://propakistani.pk/2023/09/21/in-depth-pitch-analysis-of-world-cup-venues-where-pakistan-will-play/
• RevSportz — GT vs MI pitch report and stats — https://revsportz.in
• MySportsTourist — Travel and access guide — https://mysportstourist.com
• IMVoyager — Reaching Ahmedabad and the stadium — https://imvoyager.com/cricket-ground-in-ahmedabad-narendra-modi-stadium/
• BBC News — Stadium renaming and Test match coverage — https://www.bbc.com/news
• Reuters — India renames world’s largest cricket stadium after PM Modi — https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-renames-worlds-largest-cricket-stadium-after-pm-modi-2021-02-24/
• The Hindu — Motera cricket stadium renamed Narendra Modi Stadium — https://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/motera-cricket-stadium-in-ahmedabad-renamed-narendra-modi-stadium/article61929181.ece
• India Today — Coverage of stadium renaming and capacity figures — https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/cricket/story/world-s-largest-cricket-stadium-in-motera-named-narendra-modi-stadium-1772484-2021-02-24
• Business Standard — Motera Stadium facilities overview — https://www.business-standard.com/article/sports/motera-stadium-all-you-need-to-know-about-world-s-largest-cricket-venue-120022200600_1.html

Note: Figures such as stadium capacity and attendance vary slightly across sources (for example, 110,000 as originally stated by the architects vs. 132,000 as the current official figure); where this occurs, the article notes the discrepancy rather than picking one number silently.