New Chandigarh, Dec 11 (IANS) India women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur described the naming of a stand in her honour ahead of the second T20I at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium as a ‘special moment’, adding that all her hard work and struggle paid off to see this day.

On Thursday, before the start of the match, Harmanpreet and former India men’s all-rounder Yuvraj Singh were honoured with stands named after them. The ceremony saw both players being joined by their family members, India players Amanjot Kaur, Harleen Deol, BCCI President Mithun Manhas, and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

“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,” said Harmanpreet, who captained India to the Women’s ODI World Cup win in November, in a video posted by the BCCI on their social media accounts.

“All the hard work, all the struggle has paid off today. So I think it is a very emotional moment for me. But as well, whoever is going to watch this video, whoever is listening, I think it is going to be very motivational for all of them,” she said.

Yuvraj, who retired from international cricket in 2019, was instrumental in India’s triumph in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. His finest time came in the 2011 ODI World Cup — scoring 362 runs and taking 15 wickets to be named Player of the Series in India’s victorious campaign.

“Very proud of her, very proud of the whole Indian team winning the World Cup. It was their dream. Very proud of them to win the final and very happy for them. Excited for them,” he said.

Yuvraj Singh, who played 40 Tests, 304 ODIs, and 58 T20Is for India, expressed gratitude for a stand being named after him. “That’s a huge honour. I think it’s been a lot of years playing for India and Punjab. So it’s a special ground for me as a coach and a mentor, and thank you to the BCCI, PCA for giving me their support and giving me that huge honour.”

–IANS

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