Sardar Patel Stadium

Formerly known as the Gujarat Stadium, the ground was renamed in tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. Before the Sardar Patel Stadium, international cricket matches in the city were played at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's stadium of the same name (Sardar Patel Stadium) in the Navrangpura area. In 1982, the Government of Gujarat donated a 100-acre (400,000 m²) stretch of land on the banks of the Sabarmati River to build a new stadium. The construction of the Sardar Patel Stadium was completed in nine months.[2] Since then, all International cricket fixtures for the city are hosted here. In the 1984-85 Australia-India series, Sardar Patel Stadium hosted its first ODI, in which Australia defeated India.

Sunil Gavaskar was the first cricketer to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket against Pakistan in the stadium in 1987.[11] In 1983, Kapil Dev took a nine-wicket haul against the West Indies in 1983, and claimed his 432nd Test wicket at the stadium to become the highest wicket-taker in the world in 1995, which broke Sir Richard Hadlee's previous record.[12] In 1996, the ground hosted a low-scoring Test match against South Africa, where the visitors lost 105–170. Javagal Srinath took six wickets in the fourth inning of the match. South Africa won in a rematch game when they bowled India out for 76 runs in the first session of the Test match in 2008 and won the game by an inning and 90 runs.

The stadium became a focal venue of ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 and hosted five of the 15 games played. In order to host the tournament, the stadium was renovated to add three new pitches and a new outfield. Floodlights and covered stands were introduced at the stadium as a part of the renovation program.

The Sardar Patel Stadium has hosted games whenever India has hosted the Cricket World Cup, including the first match of the 1996 World Cup between England and New Zealand. However, while the stadium hosted only one game each in 1987 and 1996, it hosted three games in the 2011 World Cup, including the quarter-finals between Australia and India. Sachin Tendulkar became the first cricketer to score 18,000 runs in One Day Internationals. As of 19 August 2017, Sardar Patel has hosted 12 Tests, 23 ODIs and 1 T20I.

US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Sardar Patel Stadium, 24 February 2020.

In October 2015, the stadium was demolished for reconstruction, though some media referred to it as a renovation. The total cost of reconstruction was estimated to be ₹700 crores. However, the final cost was reported at ₹800 crores. The redevelopment, originally planned to be completed in 2019, finished in February 2020.

The idea to build the new stadium was allegedly proposed by Narendra Modi, the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association and the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time. Shortly before Modi moved to Delhi after becoming the Prime Minister of India, there were discussions about minor upgrades to the stadium and development of the structure at the pavilion end. Modi asked the officials to build a new larger stadium instead of minor renovation work when he learned about the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[13]

After starting demolition work at the end of 2015, the Gujarat Cricket Association issued a request for tender on 1 January 2016 in The Times of India and The Indian Express. Nine bidders showed interest and purchased the tender documents, out of which three submitted Technical and Financial bids on time; they were the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Nagarjuna Construction Company, and Larsen & Toubro. A Tender Commercial Committee (TCC) of nine experts was formed to evaluate tenders. Additionally, STUP Consultants was appointed as the Project Management Consultant to evaluate proposals and technical details of each bid working with the TCC.[14]

Each of the three bidders presented their designs, models, and technical details of their concepts & designs. Because of the sheer size and complexity of the project, the bidders were evaluated on multiple parameters like efficiency, resources, the time frame of completion, ease of implementation, etc. The bidders were ranked and weighted on all of the parameters.

In the end, L&T was finalized as the Principal Contractor to build and design the stadium.

L&T took over the construction work of the stadium in December 2016.[15] On 16 January 2017, the Gujarat Cricket Association oversaw the project, which formally began on the same day. The stadium was planned to be finished in 2 years and the reconstruction project was estimated to cost around ₹ 7 billion.[16] Finishing touches were given to the stadium in February 2020 and it is expected to host an England-India day-night test match by 2021.[17]

Mumbai-based Commercial Kitchen Consultants "Span Asia" were hired to work with Populous and L&T on all the F&B Related areas such as the Concession Counters, Main Stadium Kitchens, Player Kitchens, VIP/VVIP Boxes, Corporate Boxes, Press & Media Boxes, Pantries, GCA Club and Related areas.

The stadium was the venue of the Namaste Trump event and hosted US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi on 24 February 2020.[24] The event mirrored the "Howdy Modi" event held in Houston, Texas.[25]

• Highest innings total: Sri Lanka 760/7d – India v Sri Lanka, 2nd innings, 16 Nov 2009
• Lowest innings total: India 76 – India v South Africa, 1 inning, 3 Apr 2008
• Highest individual score: Mahela Jayawardene 275 (Balls: 435 4x27 6x1) – Sri Lanka v India, 16 Nov 2009
• Best bowling:
  (in an innings) Kapil Dev 9/83 – India v West Indies, 12 Nov 1983
  (in a match) Venkatapathy Raju 11/125 – India v Sri Lanka, 8 Feb 1994
• Most runs: Rahul Dravid (India) 771 Runs (Mat:7 Inn:14 HS:222 Ave:59.30 SR:49.10 100x3 50x1), Sachin Tendulkar – 642 runs, VVS Laxman – 574 runs
• Most wickets: Anil Kumble (India) 36 Wickets (Mat:7 Runs:964 BBI:7/115 BBM:10/233 Ave:26.77 Econ:2.29 SR:70.1 5W/I:3 10W/M:1), Harbhajan Singh- 29 wickets, Kapil Dev – 14 wickets

• Highest total: South Africa 365/2 – India v South Africa, 1st innings, 27 Feb 2010
• Lowest total: Zimbabwe 85 – Zimbabwe v West Indies, 1st innings, 8 Oct 2006
• Highest individual score: Sourav Ganguly 144 (Balls:152 4x8 6x6) – India v Zimbabwe, 5 Dec 2000
• Best bowling: Mitchell Johnson 4/19 (9.2 overs) – Australia v Zimbabwe, 21 Feb 2011
• Most runs: Chris Gayle – 316 runs, Sachin Tendulkar – 215 runs
• Most wickets: Kapil Dev (India) 10 Wickets (Mat:6 Runs:156 Best:3/26 Ave:15.60 Econ:3.04), Lasith Malinga – 7 wickets, Chris Gayle- 6 wickets