New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) India’s vice captain Smriti Mandhana congratulated her teammate and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur after the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) unveiled a stand in her honour at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Two new stands were inaugurated at the venue on Thursday, with the other one being named after former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh.

The inauguration ceremony was led by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and PCA President Amarjit Mehta, with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Mithun Manhas and Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria also in attendance.

BCCI posted a video of the same on their social media handles, and sharing the same on her Instagram story, Mandhana wrote, “Congratulations @imharmanpreet_kaur!! What a day for women’s cricket and so so proud of you!”

In the video, 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.”

Last month, Harmanpreet made history by leading the Indian team to their first senior ICC women’s cricket trophy as the Women in Blue beat South Africa by 52 runs at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai to lift the coveted silverware.

She became only the third female Indian cricketer to have a stand named after her. Previously, legends of the game Jhulan Goswami (Eden Gardens, Kolkata) and Mithali Raj (ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam) were bestowed with this honour. Additionally, she also became the only active cricketer to have a stand named after her.

In the presence of Mann and other PCA office bearers, cash rewards of Rs 11 lakh for Harmanpreet, Amanjot Kaur and Harleen Deol were also handed out, while the fielding coach of the World Cup-winning team, Munish Bali, received a reward of Rs 5 lakh.

–IANS

vi/