Narendra Modi Stadium: Reliving the historic events in Indian cricket
India and West Indies will lock horns in the first ODI on February 6. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the series opener. Notably, the venue was formerly known as the Sardar Patel or Motera Stadium. Over the years, it has witnessed some historic events in Indian cricket. In February 2021, the famous stadium hosted the Day/Night Test between India and England.
- The Motera Stadium is presently the largest cricket stadium in the world, with a seating capacity of over 1,30,000.
- The stadium got constructed in 1983 before getting renovated in 2006.
- In February 2021, the stadium was renamed the Narendra Modi Stadium by the Gujarat Cricket Association.
- It has hosted several memorable cricket matches, including the ones at World Cups.
In March 1987, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar became the first-ever player to touch the 10,000-run mark in Tests. He achieved the milestone in the 4th Test against Pakistan at Motera Stadium. Gavaskar scored 63 off 170 deliveries as the match ended in a draw. It was the penultimate match of Gavaskar's Test career. He played his last Test in Bengaluru in the same series.
Former Indian captain Kapil Dev also has fond memories while playing at Motera. In 1983, he took nine wickets in the second innings of the third Test against West Indies. Kapil's 9/83 remain the best innings figures by an Indian seamer in Test cricket. At the same venue, in 1994 (against Sri Lanka), Kapil became the highest wicket-taker in Tests after surpassing Richard Hadlee.
In 1999, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar scored his maiden double-century in Test cricket at Motera. He reached the landmark in the third Test against New Zealand. Batting first, India scored a mammoth 583/7 in the first innings before declaring. Tendulkar was the top scorer for India, having smashed 217 off 344 balls with the help of 29 fours.
In 2009, Tendulkar became the first-ever player to complete 30,000 international runs (1st Test vs SL at Motera). To date, he remains the only player to have attained this feat (34,357 runs across formats). Tendulkar has 6,341 more runs than second-placed Kumar Sangakkara (28,016).
In 1981, India played their first-ever ODI at home in Ahmedabad. Tendulkar scored his 18000th ODI run here (vs Australia, WC 2011 quarter-final). Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh scored his first Test ton at this venue (vs NZ, 2010). Last year, R Ashwin took his 400th Test wicket in Ahmedabad. He became only the second off-spinner from India to do so.
