AHMEDABAD, India (CU)_The world’s largest cricket stadium was renamed after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (Feb 24), just hours before India’s third match of a four-game test series against England.
The venue, previously known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cricket Stadium, can accommodate 132,000 spectators, and was PM Modi’s pet project during his time as chief minister of Gujarat, before he took over as head of the national government in 2014.
President Ramnath Kovind announced the new name for the $100m venue, with seats in blue and saffron of the Indian cricket team.
Modi, who won a second term in power with a landslide victory in the 2019 election, is by far the most popular and recognisable politician in India. “World’s largest stadium dedicated to the world’s largest personality!” Priti Gandhi, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party, said in a tweet.
In February 2020, PM Modi inaugurated the former Motera stadium as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cricket Stadium when he hosted a rally there with the then-US President Donald Trump. Home Minister Amit Shah said that the idea of building the world’s largest stadium had always been the dream of the Prime Minister.
Sardar Patel was an independent leader, long revered for his tough approach on national issues. He is immortalised in Gujarat’s Statue of Unity, the world’s biggest statue, measuring 182 metres (597 feet), twice the size of the Statue of Liberty.
While the Cricket stadium has been renamed after the current Prime Minister, however, the larger complex surrounding the venue is identified as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave.
