Narendra Modi, Reliance, and Gautam Adani...These would be the three names you would be witnessing if you ever enter the world's largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad. What had been named as Sardar Patel stadium has now been named as Narendra Modi stadium and the episode of rechristening the stadium has happened in the presence of India's head of state President Ram Nath Kovind and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. 

The unanticipated development of removing the name of India's Iron man Sardar Vallabhai Patel from the stadium has come hours ahead of the commencement of the battle between India and England for the third test match in the four-test series. The stadium has been spelled as the world's largest cricket arena in the scale of accommodation as it can able to accommodate as many as 1.32 lakh people. 

The stadium was inaugurated at Ahmedabad's Motera in Gujarat on Wednesday. President Ram Nath Kovind had inaugurated the stadium ahead of the third Test match against India and England. The President had announced that the stadium has been renamed from Sardar Patel to Narendra Modi and the stadium will now be called as Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium. 

By naming Narendra Modi's name after the world's largest cricket arena, this is the first time in recent years that any Indian sports facility has been named after a sitting Prime Minister. After inaugurating the stadium, President Ram Nath Kovind said, "This stadium was conceptualized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was president of the Gujarat Cricket Association at that time". 

According to ANI, President Kovind said, "When I went to Australia in Nov 2018, I learnt that 90,000-seater Melbourne Cricket Ground was the largest in world. It is a proud moment for India today that Motera's 1,32,000-seater stadium has become the world's largest cricket stadium". The President inaugurated the stadium in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, Chief Minister of Gujarat from Vijay Rupani, and other senior leaders. 

Ram Nath Kovind further stated, "This stadium is an example of eco-friendly development. I am confident that this enclave will give a new global identity to Ahmedabad in terms of world-class sports infrastructure. I am also confident that the facilities here will help players to perform better". "A lot of our players come from small towns and face hardships. Players encouraged by GCA (Gujarat Cricket Association) include popular names of today like Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel", the President added. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "We have decided to name it after the country's Prime Minister. It was Modi Ji's dream project". According to reports, the President also performed the ground-breaking ceremony for a sports complex in the stadium, to be named Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel sports enclave, for disciplines like football, hockey, basketball, boxing, kabaddi, and lawn tennis among others. While addressing the event, Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the stadium is one of the most modern sports facilities in the world. 

What has to be noted is that along with naming Narendra Modi after the stadium, the government has named Reliance and Gautam Adani's names to each of its end of the stadium, displaying that Modi can't be separated from them. The development has come when the opposition parties and activists are already slamming the Central government for its pro-Ambani and Adani approach and the Prime Minister has also been surfaced with allegations for acting in favor of these two businessmen and Adani has been spelled to be very close to Narendra Modi.

The Narendra Modi cricket stadium is spread over 63 acres and it has been built at an estimated cost of Rs 800 crore and with a seating capacity of 1,32,000 spectators, it has surpassed Melbourne Cricket Stadium in Australia, which can accommodate 90,000. The reports say that the Australian architect firm 'Populous', which is known for designing Melbourne Cricket Stadium, has designed the stadium in Ahmedabad. The Press Information Bureau said that the total area of the stadium is equivalent to 32 Olympic size soccer fields put together. 

The stadium has eleven pitches made of both red and black soil and is the only stadium in the world to have the same soil surfaces for the main and practice pitches and it also has a drainage system which will take just 30 minutes from the time it stops raining to drain out the water. This is the only cricket stadium in the world to have four dressing rooms for the players so that back-to-back games can be played on the same day. After the stadium was renamed after Narendra Modi and invited Ambani and Adani, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter and said, "Beautiful how the truth reveals itself. Narendra Modi stadium - Adani end - Reliance end, With Jay Shah presiding."

Beautiful how the truth reveals itself.

Narendra Modi stadium
- Adani end
- Reliance end

With Jay Shah presiding.#HumDoHumareDo

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 24, 2021