History and Development
Before Sardar Patel Stadium (Motera Stadium) came into existence, International cricket matches in the city were played at Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's stadium of the same name (Sardar Patel Stadium) in the Navrangpura locality of the city. In 1982, the Government of Gujarat donated a 50-acre (200,000 m2) stretch of land on the banks of the Sabarmati River for the construction of new stadium. The construction of the Sardar Patel Stadium was carried out in a span of nine months and since then all International cricket fixtures for the city are hosted here. The stadium hosted its first International Test match on 12 November 1983 between India and the West Indies. Later in the 1984-85 Australia-India series, Sardar Patel Stadium went on to host its first ODI, one in which Australia beat the Indians.
Sunil Gavaskar became the first-ever cricketer to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket on this ground – a feat he achieved against Pakistan in 1987. Seven years later Kapil Dev claimed his 432nd Test wicket on this ground to become the highest wicket taker in the world, breaking Sir Richard Hadlee's record for the most number of wickets in Test matches here. Before he became the highest wicket taker, Kapil Dev also made a nine-wicket haul in his career here at the Motera ground. In 1996, the ground hosted a low-scoring Test match against South Africa, where the tourists faltered while chasing a paltry 170 for a win to end up at 105 all out. Javagal Srinath scalped six wickets in the fourth innings of the match. However, South Africa had their sweet revenge when they bowled India out for 76 runs in the first session of the Test match in 2008 and then went on to win it by an innings and 90 runs. Sachin Tendulkar became the first-ever cricketer to score 18,000 runs in One day cricket in a match against Australia during 2011 Cricket World Cup.
The Stadium was also one of the venues for the 2006 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, with five of the 15 games being played here. It has also hosted one game in each of the two Cricket World Cups that were played in the country, including the first match of the 1996 World Cup between England and New Zealand.
The Stadium is an adopted home venue for the Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals. The Stadium hosted four of the seven home games of Rajasthan Royals during the 2010 season of the Indian Premier League. Rajasthan Royals won three out of those four games played here.
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