Narendra Modi Stadium Pitch Report- A Complete Guide to the World’s Largest Cricket Stadium!

The grand inauguration of the stadium coincided with “Namaste Trump” in February 2020, when U.S. President Donald Trump visited Ahmedabad. Due to the pandemic, crowd capacity was limited early on. In Feb 2021 the venue was officially renamed Narendra Modi Stadium in honor of the Prime Minister (who had served as Gujarat’s Chief Minister and was then President of the GCA). The first international match there was a day-night Test between India and England in Feb 2021. Since then, Modi Stadium has hosted numerous ICC and IPL matches, including the final of the 2022 Indian Premier League (Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders) and the 2023 Cricket World Cup Final. (India’s senior teams have continued to use this stadium along with older venues.)

Architecture and Facilities

Narendra Modi Stadium was built from the ground up with modern fan experience in mind. Its seating bowl is a two-tiered ring that wraps entirely around the field. The design was deliberately made round and open so that every one of the 132,000 seats has an uninterrupted view of the action. The lower tier alone holds about 50,000 fans and can be used independently for smaller matches, preserving. The upper tier adds another ~80,000 seats. The entire seating area is designed with steep angles and no obstructed. LED floodlights, a giant digital scoreboard, and a high-tech sound system ensure a world-class viewing experience.

Even the infrastructure behind the scenes is impressive: the stadium has four team dressing rooms (enough for two matches to be staged back-to-back) and extensive practice facilities, including three outdoor practice fields and an indoor cricket academyasianleisure.biz. There are 76 corporate boxes/suites for VIP and corporatez. The grounds themselves are maintained on Bermuda grass turf, with a level oval field measuring roughly 160 m × 140 m. Key stadium features are named after local partners – for example, the two playing ends are called the Adani Pavilion End and the Jio End, and the main gate is signposted as part of the Sardar Patel Sports Enclave【35†source】. On the sustainability front, the stadium uses low-energy LED lighting and an advanced drainage system to minimise rain delays.

• Capacity: 132,000 (total), 114,600 seated (since 2020)

   

• Owner/Operator: Gujarat Cricket Association

   

• Ends: Adani Pavilion End, Jio End

   

• Surface: Bermuda grass outfield

   

• Dressing Rooms: 4 full-sized teams’ dressing rooms

   

• Pitches: 11 center wickets (allowing fresh strips each day)

   

• Executive Boxes: 76 corporate suitesasianleisure.biz

   

• Practice Grounds: 2 adjacent outdoor grounds plus indoor nets

   

The scale of the stadium is evident in events like the IPL final or World Cup matches. Even on non-match days, the entrance gates can be overwhelmed by tens of thousands of fansasianleisure.biz. In May 2022, for instance, over 104,859 spectators entered this stadium for the IPL final – a world record for any cricket. Modern amenities like multiple entry ramps (fans enter on the 1st floor plaza), wide concourses, and rest areas were all built to safely manage such crowds.

Pitch Behavior and Analysis

Narendra Modi Stadium’s pitch (nowadays a hard, slow- to medium-paced surface) can behave differently depending on the match format. Because the new pitches were laid with modern fibers and covered for five years during construction, the surface tends to start slow and often improves for batting as games progress. Below is a breakdown of typical pitch characteristics in Tests, ODIs, and T20s (including IPL) at this venue:

Pitch Performance Table

Test Matches

In Test cricket at Motera, the pitch generally proves to be spin-friendly, especially in the later innings. Statistical records show that spinners have claimed about 60–61% of all Test wickets here. Early in a Test, seam bowling can produce some movement, but by day two or three the ball typically starts to grip and turn. This spin dominance is reflected in match outcomes and records. For example, in the inaugural pink-ball Test held here in Feb 2021, India bowled first and bowled out England in two days – left-armer Axar Patel famously took 11 wickets in that match as the pitch broke down.

Batters have had mixed success. The highest team total in a Test here is 760/7d (Sri Lanka vs India, 2009), largely thanks to Mahela Jayawardene’s 275 (his Test career-best). However, low scores are possible too – India once were bowled out for 76 by South Africa (2008) on a deteriorating pitch. Among Indian greats, Rahul Dravid holds the record for most runs at Motera (771), while Anil Kumble has taken the most wickets (36). The best bowling figures in an innings belong to Kapil Dev (9/83 vs West Indies, 1983). In short, captains often benefit from bowling first in Tests here, letting the pitch wear for a two-spinning-stumps finishing attack.

One-Day Internationals (ODIs)

In ODIs, the pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium has generally offered a fair balance but with a slight historical edge to batting first. Analyses of past ODIs note that teams batting first have, on average, scored around 229 runs. The surface tends to start true and dry under the afternoon sun, but slows a bit by evening, making it harder for later batsmen. Spinners often play a key role in the middle and death overs, as the ball starts to grip on the wearing surface.

So far, India’s national team batting here has never posted a 300-plus score in the new stadium (the highest new-era ODI innings is 241/7, India vs Australia, 2023 World Cup). In fact, as of early 2025, no team has broken 265 in ODIs on the new Motera pitch. By contrast, when the old Sardar Patel Stadium was in use, scores tended to be higher (South Africa’s 365/2 in 2010 remains the overall ODI ground record).

When chasing, teams often prefer to bat first at Narendra Modi Stadium, a strategy supported by statistics. The combination of India’s day games and the pitch’s slowing nature means that setting a score is usually safer than chasing under lights. Bowlers who can vary pace and flight tend to thrive – for example, Prasidh Krishna’s 4/14 (vs West Indies, 2022) is the best ODI bowling at this ground, highlighting how swing and seam can be effective here too. At the same time, big totals are still possible if batters take advantage of the fast outfield and short boundaries (especially if there’s early dew). One of the standout ODI batting feats is Devon Conway’s 152 (NZ vs ENG, 2023), the highest individual ODI score at the stadium.

T20 Internationals and IPL

Narendra Modi Stadium’s pitch tends to play fastest and flattest in T20 format games. In practice matches since 2021, batting first has not given a huge advantage – in fact teams often elect to bowl first in IPL games, hoping to chase a target under the lights. The data supports this: the average first-innings total at Motera in the Indian Premier League is around 155 runs, with winning scores typically near 175. In other Twenty20 internationals, similar scoring patterns have emerged.

The pitch “gets better” as the match goes on – meaning it stays true for batting even after the 10-over mark – which favors power-hitters. Fast bowlers have actually taken about 61% of wickets in T20s at this ground, suggesting that pace and bounce (initially) still play a role. Spinners bowl more economically through the middle overs, but the overall environment is usually a batting-friendly one, often producing high-scoring duels. In the IPL finals here (2022 and 2023), both innings of the match exceeded 148 runs, demonstrating how the surface can yield big totals when wickets don’t fall early.