Overview

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is the largest cricket stadium in the world by its published capacity. Built on the former Motera Stadium site, its vast two-tier bowl can accommodate approximately 132,000 spectators.

Numbers tell only part of the story. This is a stadium conceived at a scale rarely attempted in sport. It has 76 corporate boxes, four dressing rooms, nine practice pitches, an indoor cricket academy and a roof-mounted lighting system designed to reduce shadows on the playing surface.

It has already hosted Cricket World Cup finals, IPL finals, international Test matches, enormous political gatherings and record-breaking concerts. When the stadium is full, or even approaching full, it feels less like a cricket ground and more like a small city temporarily united by one scoreboard.

Narendra Modi Stadium Key Facts

The Gujarat Cricket Association describes the venue as capable of holding more than 1.3 lakh spectators. A figure of 132,000 is most commonly published, although competition organisers and individual event configurations sometimes use different capacity figures. The official IPL venue directory, for example, lists 135,000.

For consistency, 132,000 is the most defensible figure for a general stadium database entry. Gujarat Cricket Association and IPL provide the principal published figures.

Why Is Narendra Modi Stadium So Important?

Narendra Modi Stadium was built to give Indian cricket a venue capable of staging its largest occasions without treating capacity as an afterthought.

India already possessed cricket grounds with richer histories, more distinctive stands and, in some cases, better-established atmospheres. What Ahmedabad offered was scale. The reconstructed stadium could host a World Cup final, a major IPL match or a national event with more than 100,000 people inside.

That scale has altered cricket’s venue hierarchy. The Melbourne Cricket Ground had long been the natural answer when somebody asked for the world’s largest cricket stadium. Ahmedabad took that title and added another 30,000 or so seats.

The stadium also forms the centrepiece of the wider Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave. Ahmedabad will host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, placing the venue within an expanding collection of sports and transport infrastructure rather than leaving it as an isolated cricket bowl. Commonwealth Sport

From Motera Stadium to Narendra Modi Stadium

The history of cricket on this site predates the present structure.

The original Gujarat Stadium was constructed in the early 1980s and opened in 1983. It became better known as Motera Stadium and was later officially named Sardar Patel Stadium.

Its capacity was approximately 49,000, which made it a substantial ground without placing it among the very largest stadiums in world sport.

The old stadium developed a fine cricketing history:

• Sunil Gavaskar passed 10,000 career Test runs against Pakistan in 1987.
• Kapil Dev took his 432nd Test wicket in 1994, overtaking Richard Hadlee’s world record.
• Venkatesh Prasad and Venkatapathy Raju produced notable bowling performances at the ground.
• AB de Villiers made an unbeaten double century against India in 2008.
• India defeated Australia here in the 2011 Cricket World Cup quarter-final.
• Sachin Tendulkar passed 30,000 international runs at the ground in 2013.

By 2014, the Gujarat Cricket Association was considering improvements to the existing stadium. Narendra Modi, who had previously served as GCA president and Chief Minister of Gujarat, supported the more ambitious option of replacing it completely.

The old stadium was demolished in 2015. Construction of the replacement began in 2017, with Populous responsible for the design and Larsen & Toubro leading construction.

Work was substantially completed in February 2020.

Stadium History Timeline

Why Was It Renamed Narendra Modi Stadium?

The rebuilt venue was initially referred to as Motera Stadium or the new Sardar Patel Stadium.

On 24 February 2021, it was officially inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind and renamed Narendra Modi Stadium. The wider complex retained the name Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave.

The decision attracted political criticism because Sardar Patel’s name had been associated with the former stadium. Supporters of the change pointed to Modi’s role in the Gujarat Cricket Association and the original redevelopment proposal.

The naming remains politically significant. It is difficult to discuss the stadium’s identity without recognising that it represents both Indian cricket’s ambitions and the public image of its political leadership.

Architecture and Design

Populous designed the new stadium around three central demands:

• Enormous capacity
• Unrestricted sightlines
• Rapid movement of very large crowds

The seating is arranged mainly across two continuous tiers. A three-tier pavilion area contains premium facilities, corporate accommodation and operational spaces.

Y-shaped structural columns support the seating bowl from below. This arrangement avoids the forest of internal pillars that can leave spectators peering around concrete supports in older grounds.

The continuous bowl also produces visual unity. There are no large detached stands, exposed corners or obvious gaps. From inside, spectators are surrounded by seating in every direction.

That consistency has one drawback. The stadium has fewer individually recognisable sections than grounds built gradually over several generations. It is monumental, but not especially intimate. You remember the size before you remember a particular stand.

The Roof and Lighting System

The stadium’s pale roof is formed from a lightweight PTFE membrane supported independently from much of the main seating structure.

It covers part of the seating rather than enclosing the entire bowl. Spectators should therefore not assume every seat is fully protected from sun or rain.

Instead of relying solely on conventional floodlight towers, LED lighting is installed around the inner edge of the roof. This ring distributes light more evenly across the field and reduces the prominent shadows that players can experience under tower-mounted lights.

The system also preserves the stadium’s clean roofline. There are no enormous floodlight masts competing with the bowl for attention, which helps the building appear lower and more controlled than its capacity suggests.

Capacity: Is It Really the World’s Largest Stadium?

Yes, according to the stadium’s published permanent capacity.

Capacity comparisons require some care. Stadium operators may count permanent seats, temporary positions, hospitality areas or standing zones differently. Major events can also lose seats to stages, broadcast platforms, security areas and sightline restrictions.

Narendra Modi Stadium nevertheless possesses the strongest current claim to being the world’s largest cricket ground and largest stadium by published seating capacity.

Not every event uses all 132,000 places. The 2023 Cricket World Cup final, for example, recorded an attendance of 92,453 despite the enormous demand for tickets.

Seating and Views

The circular two-tier arrangement provides unobstructed views throughout the ground, but the experience changes considerably with height and position.

Lower tier

Lower seats bring spectators closer to the boundary and players. They are best for atmosphere, fielding detail and the feeling of being involved.

The shallow viewing angle can make it harder to judge the ball’s movement across the wicket, particularly when seated square of the pitch. Boundary fencing, advertising boards, cameras and staff may also enter the sightline.

Upper tier

Upper-tier seats provide a much clearer tactical view. Spectators can follow field placements, running between the wickets and the shape of an innings more easily.

The trade-off is distance. In the highest rows, the players look small and much of the emotional detail moves to the screens.

Behind the bowler’s arm

Seats near the Adani Pavilion End or Jio End offer one of the best perspectives for serious cricket watching. They make line, length and lateral movement easier to read.

Access to central positions may be limited by media, hospitality and operational areas.

Square of the wicket

Seats around cover, point, midwicket and square leg provide a balanced view of batting and fielding. These are often the safest choice for a first visit.

For day matches, sun direction and roof coverage deserve as much attention as the exact block. Ahmedabad heat is not a decorative part of the experience.

Best Seating Areas by Priority

Ticket maps and block allocations change between international cricket, IPL matches and concerts. Fans should check the event-specific seating plan before booking.

Pitch and Playing Conditions

Narendra Modi Stadium contains multiple central pitches prepared from different soil types. This allows curators to create surfaces with varying characteristics rather than relying on one fixed pitch profile.

Black-soil pitches generally retain moisture for longer and may offer slower pace or greater assistance to spin as a match develops. Red-soil pitches can provide more bounce and quicker response.

That variety makes sweeping claims about “the Ahmedabad pitch” rather dangerous. Conditions depend on the selected strip, format, preparation, weather and recent use.

The stadium’s first Test in 2021 was a day-night match between India and England. It ended inside two days as spin dominated. Axar Patel took 11 wickets in the match, while Ravichandran Ashwin reached 400 career Test wickets.

The match created debate about pitch quality, although batting technique under the pink ball deserved a place in the conversation too. Cricket debates are rarely short of volunteers.

Major Cricket Matches

India against England, 2021

The first international fixture at the rebuilt venue was the pink-ball Test between India and England in February 2021.

India won by ten wickets. The extraordinary brevity of the match immediately made the new stadium part of Test cricket history.

IPL Final, 2022

Gujarat Titans defeated Rajasthan Royals to win the IPL in their first season.

A recorded crowd of 101,566 made it the largest verified attendance at a T20 cricket match at that time, according to Guinness World Records.

IPL Final, 2023

Chennai Super Kings beat Gujarat Titans in a rain-affected final completed on the reserve day.

Ravindra Jadeja scored the decisive runs from the final two deliveries, producing precisely the sort of finish that makes a 100,000-seat ground feel almost reasonable.

Cricket World Cup Final, 2023

India faced Australia on 19 November 2023.

India were bowled out for 240 before Travis Head’s 137 helped Australia complete a six-wicket victory. The official attendance was 92,453.

For Indian supporters, it remains the stadium’s most painful cricketing memory. The setting was designed for a national celebration, but Australia are not generally known for respecting the script.

T20 World Cup Final, 2026

India returned to the venue for the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup final and defeated New Zealand by 96 runs.

India scored 255 for five before dismissing New Zealand for 159. The result gave India a third T20 world title and consecutive tournament victories following the 2024 success.

IPL Final, 2026

The ground staged another IPL final on 31 May 2026. Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets, retaining the championship.

The fixture was moved to Ahmedabad after operational concerns prevented Bengaluru from hosting the final. It underlined the venue’s increasingly familiar role as Indian cricket’s default stage for maximum-capacity occasions.

Non-Cricket Events

Narendra Modi Stadium was designed primarily for cricket, but its scale makes it attractive for national events and major concerts.

Namaste Trump

The first major public event in the completed stadium was “Namaste Trump” on 24 February 2020, held during US President Donald Trump’s visit to India.

The event drew a reported crowd of approximately 125,000 people, although attendance estimates varied.

National Games of India

The opening ceremony of the 2022 National Games was held at the stadium on 29 September 2022.

Coldplay concerts

Coldplay performed at the stadium on 25 and 26 January 2025 as part of the Music of the Spheres World Tour.

The second concert drew a reported 111,989 spectators. Across the two nights, 223,570 tickets were reported as sold. These concerts demonstrated that the stadium could function as an international entertainment venue, although concert layouts differ from cricket configurations because the stage removes part of the available seating.

Teams That Play at Narendra Modi Stadium

The stadium hosts:

• India men’s cricket team
• India women’s cricket team
• Gujarat men’s domestic team
• Gujarat women’s domestic team
• Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League
• Gujarat Giants for selected cricket competitions and events

Gujarat Titans have been the most consistent club tenant since joining the IPL in 2022.

Facilities

The scale of the stadium extends beyond the seating bowl.

According to the Gujarat Cricket Association, the complex includes:

• Four team dressing rooms
• Six indoor practice pitches
• Three outdoor practice fields
• An indoor cricket academy
• Accommodation for 40 athletes
• 76 corporate boxes holding 25 guests each
• Hospitality and food service areas
• Media and broadcast facilities
• A clubhouse with recreational amenities

Four dressing rooms allow the stadium to support double-header fixtures without forcing teams to share or rapidly turn over facilities.

The extensive practice provision is equally important. A stadium of this size cannot operate efficiently if every warm-up, academy session and domestic fixture depends on the central field.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere varies more than the capacity figure suggests.

For India internationals and Gujarat Titans matches, orange seating disappears beneath waves of team colours, flags and phone lights. The continuous bowl traps and redistributes crowd noise effectively, particularly when the lower tier is full.

The stadium can feel less convincing when attendance is modest. Empty sections remain visible because of the sheer number of seats, and supporters are spread across an enormous circumference.

At major matches, however, the scale becomes the experience. A boundary or wicket can trigger a delayed wall of sound as reactions travel around the bowl. It is not intimate cricket. It is mass-participation theatre.

Getting to Narendra Modi Stadium

The stadium sits in Motera, north of central Ahmedabad and close to the Sabarmati River.

By metro

Motera Stadium station is the most practical public transport option. It is located on Ahmedabad Metro’s north-south corridor and provides connections towards central and southern Ahmedabad.

The line also continues north towards Gandhinagar through the expanded metro network.

On selected major matchdays, metro operating hours may be extended and special return tickets introduced. These arrangements are event-specific, so supporters should check the Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation journey planner before travelling.

By train

Sabarmati Junction is closer to the stadium than Ahmedabad Junction and may be useful for regional services.

Ahmedabad Junction, commonly known as Kalupur station, is the city’s primary long-distance rail terminal. Travellers arriving there can connect to the metro or continue by taxi.

By taxi or rideshare

App-based taxis and auto-rickshaws are widely available in Ahmedabad. They can be convenient before a match but less reliable immediately afterwards because of closures, crowds and restricted pickup areas.

Arrange a meeting point away from the closest stadium roads if possible.

From the airport

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport is roughly 10 kilometres from the stadium, depending on the route used.

The drive may take 20 to 40 minutes under ordinary conditions. Major-event traffic can extend that considerably.

Parking

The complex has substantial parking provision, commonly reported as approximately 3,000 car spaces and 10,000 two-wheeler spaces.

That sounds generous until more than 100,000 people arrive.

Road restrictions, permit zones and security cordons are frequently introduced for major matches. Parking passes may be linked to particular gates or routes, and vehicles without the correct permit can be diverted well before reaching the stadium.

Public transport is usually the better choice for international matches and IPL finals.

If driving:

• Buy or secure parking before the event.
• Check which gate corresponds with the parking allocation.
• Arrive several hours before play.
• Save the parking location on a phone.
• Expect a slow exit after the match.
• Do not rely on finding informal parking near the entrance.

Food and Drink

Food courts and concessions are distributed around the spectator areas. Menus vary by competition and stand, with vegetarian snacks, fast food, bottled drinks and regional options commonly available.

Queues can become considerable during innings breaks. Buying food shortly before a scheduled interval is usually quicker than joining the entire population of a respectable town five minutes later.

Policies governing outside food, bottles and bags may change between BCCI, ICC, IPL and concert events. Check the conditions printed with the ticket.

Accessibility

The modern stadium includes lifts, ramps, accessible circulation routes and designated spectator areas. Motera Stadium metro station is also listed as accessible.

The practical experience can still depend on the event organiser and ticket category. Spectators who require step-free access, wheelchair positions or companion seating should contact the ticket provider or Gujarat Cricket Association before purchasing.

Useful details to confirm include:

• Accessible entrance and gate
• Drop-off location
• Wheelchair viewing position
• Companion ticket policy
• Lift availability
• Accessible toilet location
• Parking permit requirements
• Assistance after the event

The distances around the stadium are significant. A gate that looks close on a schematic map may involve a long walk around security barriers.

Tickets

Tickets are generally sold through the official organiser rather than through one permanent stadium platform.

Depending on the event, sellers may include:

• BCCI
• ICC
• IPL
• Gujarat Titans
• Gujarat Cricket Association
• Official concert ticketing partners

Demand for India matches, IPL knockout games and international finals can be exceptional.

Avoid social-media sellers and unofficial ticket screenshots. Digital tickets may include rotating codes, account checks or restricted transfer rules.

Stadium Tours

There is no consistently advertised daily stadium tour comparable with those offered at some major football grounds.

Access may be available through special events, group arrangements, cricket association programmes or hospitality packages. Visitors should contact the Gujarat Cricket Association before planning a journey specifically for a tour.

The stadium should not be assumed to be open for casual interior visits on non-matchdays.

What Is Near the Stadium?

Motera is primarily an urban and residential district rather than a concentrated tourist zone.

Visitors staying for several days will find more restaurants, hotels and attractions closer to central Ahmedabad.

Major places to visit include:

• Sabarmati Ashram
• Adalaj Stepwell
• Sidi Saiyyed Mosque
• Kankaria Lake
• Manek Chowk
• Ahmedabad’s historic old city
• Calico Museum of Textiles
• Riverfront promenades along the Sabarmati

Sabarmati Ashram is especially relevant for first-time visitors. It provides a much quieter historical counterpoint to the modern scale of the stadium.

Narendra Modi Stadium Records

Capacity, ticket sales and attendance are not interchangeable. The official capacity describes how many places a venue can provide under its standard configuration. Attendance records describe how many people were actually counted at a particular event.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Is Narendra Modi Stadium Worth Visiting?

Yes, particularly for an India international, Gujarat Titans match or tournament final.

The architecture is not full of eccentric corners or century-old pavilions. Its character comes from scale, repetition and the physical effect of seeing tier after tier extend around the field.

There are cricket grounds with deeper atmosphere on an ordinary afternoon. There are grounds where the history feels closer to the surface. Very few, though, can reproduce the sight and sound of Ahmedabad when a six disappears into a crowd of more than 100,000 people.

Plan transport carefully, choose the seat with heat and shade in mind, and arrive early. At a venue this large, “getting through the gate” is a phase of the day rather than a brief administrative detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the capacity of Narendra Modi Stadium?

The most widely published capacity is 132,000. Some official competition listings use a figure of 135,000, while actual usable capacity varies by event configuration.

Is Narendra Modi Stadium the largest stadium in the world?

It has the largest published seating capacity of any current stadium commonly used for major sport. It is unquestionably the world’s largest cricket stadium by that measure.

Where is Narendra Modi Stadium?

It is in Motera, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, close to the Sabarmati River.

Which team plays at Narendra Modi Stadium?

It is the home ground of the Gujarat Titans in the IPL and Gujarat in domestic cricket. India’s national teams also play international fixtures there.

What was the stadium called before?

The former ground was known as Gujarat Stadium, Motera Stadium and Sardar Patel Stadium. The rebuilt venue was renamed Narendra Modi Stadium in 2021.

When did the new stadium open?

Construction was completed in February 2020. The first major public event took place on 24 February 2020, while the formal inauguration and first international cricket match followed on 24 February 2021.

What is the nearest metro station?

Motera Stadium metro station is the closest and most practical station for most visitors.

Can visitors tour the stadium?

Regular daily tours are not consistently advertised. Contact the Gujarat Cricket Association before travelling specifically for an interior visit.

Is the stadium fully covered?

No. The roof canopy covers portions of the seating, but it does not create a completely enclosed or fully weather-protected stadium.

What was the attendance at the 2023 Cricket World Cup final?

The reported attendance for India against Australia was 92,453.

What is the cricket attendance record?

Guinness World Records verified an attendance of 101,566 for the 2022 IPL final between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals.

Can the stadium host concerts?

Yes. Coldplay performed two concerts there in January 2025, with a reported combined attendance of 223,570.