Five great Indian moments at Motera Stadium
For three decades, the Sardar Patel Stadium, also known as the Motera Stadium has seen some of Indian cricket's finest moments.
The return of Cricket in India has been smooth with Chepauk hosting two Tests between India and England. With the series at 1-1, the teams now move to the recently reconstructed Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The reconstructed Motera stadium was inaugurated by the then US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the former's visit to India. Motera, now known as the Sardar Patel Stadium has a capacity of 110,000, which is the most for a Cricket stadium. It is the second-largest stadium overall with North Korea's Rungrado First of May Stadium standing first with 114,000 spectators.
The stadium hosted the knockouts of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the players have been impressed with the facilities at the venue. Now, Motera is set to host its first international fixture, starting off with a pink-ball Test. India will play another Test at the venue and also the entire 5-match T20 series against England.
Here are the finest moments experienced at this historic venue.
#1 Sunil Gavaskar - First man to score 10000 runs in Tests
Sunil Gavaskar became the first-ever player to score 10000 runs in the history of Test match cricket. He achieved the milestone in the match against arch-rivals Pakistan in 1987 at Motera. The Little Master playing his 124th Test, scored the 10000th run on 7th March. Gavaskar made 63 in the innings, and his partnership with Dilip Vengsarkar helped India draw the match.
The achievement was seen as an Everest which may not be touched by anyone as run-scoring in tests was at a snail's pace during the 80s.
#2 Kapil Dev's 9/83 in an innings of a Test
Kapil Dev, the man who helped India stun the West Indies to lift the World Cup in 1983, came up with another humongous effort at Motera. Kapil's achievement came in the longest format, when the Windies toured India for a 6-match test series. In the third Test at Motera, Kapil Dev picked up a 9-wicket haul in the second innings.
India had conceded a lead of 40 runs, after which the all-rounder bowled a marathon 31-over spell against the likes of Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Viv Richards, and Clive Lloyd. He bowled unchanged from one end to record an impressive spell of 9-83.
#3 Kapil Dev - Leading wicket-taker in Tests
Seven years later, the Haryana man returned to Motera to become the leading wicket-taker in Tests. He overtook Richard Hadlee's tally of 431 wickets by dismissing Hashan Tillakaratne. He ended his Test career with 434 wickets, and his record stood for six years.
It is still considered as one of the greatest achievements by an Indian in Tests. Given the fact that India is not known for producing fast bowlers, Kapil's rise to the top is undoubtedly a memorable one.
#4 India knocking out 3-time defending champions Australia out of the WC in 2011
India defeated Australia in the quarter-finals of the Cricket World Cup in 2011 at Motera. Australia had won the 1999, 2003, and 2007 editions of the CWC.
India had a mixed campaign in the group stage with wins only against Ireland, Bangladesh, Netherlands, and a below-par West Indies. Australia set a competitive target of 260.
Half-centuries from Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, and Yuvraj Singh and a cameo from Suresh Raina helped India chase down the target successfully. It was this team effort that gave the confidence for MS Dhoni's men to lift the Cup.
#5 Sachin Tendulkar - the first man to score 18000 runs in ODIs
In the same match at Motera, Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to score 18000 runs in ODIs. The demi-god was and still is way ahead in terms of runs scored in ODIs. He reached the significant milestone when he scored his 45th run.
The achievement is unimaginable because it's been 10 years since he got to the milestone and no other player has even scored fifteen thousand runs yet.