AHMEDABAD: The vastness of the new Motera, like most other stadia in the world, hits you twice. First, when you glimpse it from the outside. Then, when you take a walk inside it on a non-matchday. It makes you feel small, its labyrinthine designs extending like tentacles.
Brought to life by Populous (its most famous sporting infra include the Emirates Stadium in London, the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta and the Yankee Stadium in New York), it does what it says on the tin. Be imposing. In that sense, it acts as a metaphor for what this country wants to be on the world stage in the 21st century and beyond. Show off the soft power stadiums like this can project.
There is of course a probability in the future of the stadium hosting the Summer Games. It would be the culmination of a dream for a venue that's already ticked several items on its bucket list. Political rallies and concerts with global rockstars. More than 3,25,000 people had turned up from various parts of the country and elsewhere for three of the biggest non sporting events it has hosted so far (an event with Donald Trump and two nights with Coldplay).
On Sunday night, this corner of Ahmedabad will represent Indian cricket again, this time for the final of the T20 World Cup. It's of course no stranger to cricket. It has already held the 50-over World Cup final, an India vs. Pakistan fixture, a pink ball Test as well as a couple of Indian Premier League (IPL) finals, Indian cricket's annual blue riband event.
But there is an unshakeable feeling that the Narendra Modi Stadium is still getting used to hosting the India team and vice versa. You know what you are going to get at Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai or Kolkata, four of the side's traditional cricketing venues. With their vast histories, narratives and legacies, it's easy to see why. The soil at these venues is well entrenched within the Indian cricketing ecosystem, its pillars tell sepia toned stories and its foundations are well attuned to the rhythms of sporting folklore. On matchdays at these venues, it becomes a community in itself as fans inject fresh oxygen. It comes alive, pregnant with new life and possibilities. Its soul, a recognisable organism.
It's why the team has a connection when they play at these venues.
That connection takes time, especially at modern stadia. It's like going to a new house, you are excited but you also miss the familiarity. The lighting is off, the thermostat setting is wrong, the sound is just not right, the sofa is a few centimetres to the left and the drawn curtains do not cover the outside glare.
It's kind of why a lot of the modern sporting infra take time to grow on fans. In European football and in a lot of venues across the US, a lot of the clubs hire acoustics engineers to ensure that all sound from the terraces let out the proper notes. There's no point in building a Colosseum capable of holding 80000 with a broken sound system. Not to mention the fact that Ahmedabad also suffers a bit structurally because the tiers are not on top of the action but further away. It conveys the impression that the paying public are divorced from what's happening in the middle. Most old school Indian stadia have steep stands helping fans be a lot closer to the field of play.
Another visual element that's lacking here is that a lot of of sport stadia have opted to paint the seats in different colours. Known as mosaic or gradient, it's to create an illusion of a full house during broadcasts. The lower deck of the Stadium in Ahmedabad is dominated by orange. The reimagined complex -- the cricket stadium is only part of the premises -- could have a central lotus theme.
Then, there's that other very important currency. Culture. It's here that the new Motera has some catching up to do. On the first morning of a hugely publicised India vs. Australia Test in 2023 (the same one where Modi and Anthony Albanese were taken around in a repurposed golf cart), it was expected that the place would be heaving. In the end, it didn't even come close to breaking the world record for most fans in a ground to watch a day of the Test.
There's also the abiding memory of the World Cup from 2023; the way Australia quietened the circular wall of Blue. They said they would. They did. "In sport there's nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent and that's the aim for us tomorrow (November 19, 2023)," Pat Cummins had famously remarked in the pre match press conference. "... there's going to be noise and more people and interest, and you just can't get overwhelmed." It's fair to say the crowd got overwhelmed.
Most of the assembled hoi polloi, wearing different hues of India Blue, blinked first. By 8.15 PM, a steady stream of supporters began heading for the exits. On a night when supporters should have been at their partisan best, some of them acted like they were part of an unannounced fire drill.
Sunday brings with it an opportunity to show that the new Motera can take a giant step towards establishing a connection with the side. The Stadium was built for nights like this. It's now time for the Stadium -- and the people inside -- to keep their end of the bargain.
