Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, visited the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Thursday to witness the India vs Australia 4th Test Match, with star players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Steve Smith on the pitch.
The IND vs AUS 4th test match is taking place at the Narendra Modi Stadium, which was previously known as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, and is an age-old landmark in Ahmedabad. While the stadium has remained in business since 1983, it was renovated and reopened in 2020.
The stadium has hosted hundreds of cricket matches in the last few decades, recently coming into prominence as the hub for international cricket matches and ICC tournaments. The India vs Australia test match is also being hosted here, which is a crucial series for Team India.
Key features of Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad
- The Narendra Modi Stadium was inaugurated as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in 1983, but was shut down and underwent a massive renovation. It was then reopened in February 2020.
- The redesign of the stadium was one of the biggest infrastructural projects in Ahmedabad. It is now directly connected to a metro line, has three entry points, and 76 corporate boxes which can hold 25 people, along with many luxury facilities.
- The Narendra Modi Stadium has a 55-room clubhouse, an Olympic size swimming pool, four dressing rooms, and a unique set up of LED lights on the roof, instead of the standard floodlights on cricket stadiums.
- The stadium has a capacity of 132,000 people and a car parking capacity of 3,000 cars and 10,000 two-wheelers. The stadium is also connected to a metro station by a skywalk to reduce road traffic.
- The Narendra Modi Stadium was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records when it hosted the finals of IPL 2022, for hosting the largest number of spectators in a stadium. There were 101,566 spectators in the match.
- The Narendra Modi Stadium is currently owned by the Gujarat Cricket Association and is a venue for Test, ODI, T20I, and Indian Premier League cricket matches.
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