The world's biggest stadium was built for cricket, not football
No sports ground on Earth holds more people than the cricket stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad, with room for 132,000. When it opened it took the title of largest cricket ground from the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and a 2022 IPL final there drew 104,859 spectators, a record for the sport.
The site previously held Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, a World Cup venue in 1987, 1996 and 2011. When minor upgrades were being discussed, the then president of the Gujarat Cricket Association pushed instead for a new, much larger ground on the same plot. Demolition began in October 2015. Three construction groups bid, and Larsen & Toubro won, starting work in January 2017 on a design by the architecture firm Populous. Planned to take two years, it was finished in February 2020 at a reported cost of ₹800 crore, about US$83 million.
The design aims for clear sightlines. Y-shaped columns support the two-tier stands from beneath, so no pillars block anyone's view. Instead of floodlight towers, a ring of LEDs lines the inner edge of the roof, reducing shadows on the pitch. The field has 11 centre pitches, Bermuda grass, and sensors that trigger 67 underground pop-up sprinklers when the turf needs water. Across 63 acres the complex also holds 76 corporate boxes, a 55-room clubhouse, an Olympic-size pool and an indoor cricket academy with dormitories for 40 athletes. Parking takes 3,000 cars and 10,000 two-wheelers.
It was officially inaugurated on 24 February 2021 and renamed after Narendra Modi, a former chief minister of Gujarat who had also led the state cricket association. Hours later England arrived for its first international fixture, a Test played under lights with a pink ball.
Big occasions followed. It hosted the opening match and the final of the 2023 World Cup, and in 2026 India beat New Zealand there to become the first side to win back-to-back T20 World Cups. It is home to the Gujarat Titans, and Coldplay played two shows there in January 2025. The venue is also set to be used for the 2030 Commonwealth Games.
Source: Narendra Modi Stadium
