The IPL Mega Auction for the upcoming 2025 edition has been done with, and the fans are eagerly awaiting the riveting tournament to begin. Gujarat Titans, one of the teams in the league, has fast-raked up their fanbase on the back of impressive showings in the three seasons that they have played so far.
The franchise entered the IPL in 2022, and to everyone’s surprise, emerged triumphant in their inaugural attempt itself, led by the then captain Hardik Pandya. In the following edition, they once again qualified for the finale, although they suffered a last-ball defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings in the summit clash played at the humongous Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Notably, the picturesque venue, which is the home ground for the Titans in the tournament, has come up in the news once again. It is likely that GT will not play their first couple of matches of IPL 2025 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, located in Motera. Instead, the newly-built Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara is set to host the first few home games for the franchise.
The reason behind this shift is due to the scheduling of Women’s Premier League (WPL)’s third edition. There have been reports of WPL being hosted across a couple of phases in two cities, i.e. Lucknow (Ekana) and Ahmedabad (Motera). With the second phase expected to be hosted in Gujarat’s popular city, and the tournament likely ending with the finale proposed for March 9, which is less than a week before the proposed commencement of the IPL (March 14), the Titans will ponder playing their initial home fixtures in Vadodara.
The move isn’t surprising since the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, one of WPL 2024’s host city, did not host Delhi Capitals’ opening two home games at the venue, which were instead held at Vizag, in Andhra Pradesh. This was due to there being logistical and infrastructural challenges in getting the ground in Kotla ready on time for the Indian Premier League. Hence, Gujarat Titans, led by star cricketer Shubman Gill, are likely to follow the same route for the upcoming season.
About Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara
The Kotambi Stadium, also known as Baroda International Cricket Stadium, in Vadodara, is the latest international venue in India. The latest venue has a seating capacity of around 40,000 spectators. The ground has already hosted a few domestic games, the latest ones being for Baroda’s home fixtures during the Ranji Trophy 2024-25.
An entire international series had been allotted to the ground for the three ODIs during the West Indies Women tour of India, however, last-minute challenges forced to shift the games to the Reliance Stadium located roughly 25 kilometres off Kotambi.
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