On Thursday, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) unveiled two new stands at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium. The two stands have been named after India Women’s World Cup winning team captain Harmanpreet Kaur and 2011 World Cup winning all-rounder Yuvraj Singh.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, PCA President Amarjit Mehta, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Mithun Manhas and Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria were the chief guests of the inauguration ceremony. The video of the event was later shared by the BCCI on all its social media accounts, giving fans a glimpse.
Ahead of the ceremony, the Punjab Chief Minister felicitated the state players from the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup winning team with cash prizes. Skipper Harmanpreet, Harleen Deol and Amanjot Kaur were awarded with a sum of Rs. 11 lakhs. Indian fielding coach Munish Bali was also felicitated with Rs. 5 lakhs. Both the inauguration and the felicitation event were held ahead of the second T20I between India and South Africa.
In the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025, Harmanpreet scored 260 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 89.04, including two half-centuries and a high score of 89. She led the team with her experience and ended up lifting the World Cup trophy for the team.
Meanwhile, Harleen scored 169 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 75.11. The middle-order batter, however, did not reach the fifty mark but was close enough with her 48 runs off 64 balls scored against Sri Lanka in their first match of the tournament.
Amanjot also delivered a solid campaign in the tournament. She scored 146 runs with the bat in seven matches at a strike rate of 83.90, including a half-century. When it came to performing with the ball, she picked up six wickets in total at an average of 45.66.
Smriti Mandhana congratulates Harmanpreet
Soon after the inauguration ceremony, India Women’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana went on to congratulate her teammate Harmanpreet on the achievement. She shared the BCCI video of the ceremony on her Instagram story and wrote a heartfelt message that read, “Congratulations @imharmanpreet_kaur!! What a day for women’s cricket and so so proud of you!”
In the video shared by the BCCI, Harmanpreet expressed her emotions on getting to receive and experience such an incredible moment of her cricketing career. The skipper is the only active player and the third female cricketer to have a stand named after her. Jhulan Goswami (Eden Gardens in Kolkata) and Mithali Raj (ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam) are the former cricketers to have received the honours before Harmanpreet.
Harmanpreet said, “After winning the World Cup, a lot of things have changed in my life. But I think this is a special moment for me. The soil on which I started playing—today I will finally have a stand on my name. So I think it’s a very proud moment for me and I really want to thank the Punjab Cricket Association for that. All the hard work, all the struggle, has paid off today. So I think it is a very emotional moment for me. But also, whoever is going to watch this video, whoever is listening, I think it is going to be very motivational for all of them.”
