‘I get nervous when he bats’: Abhishek Sharma’s mother | Cricket News

“Every time Abhishek plays, we try to be at the stadium to cheer him and the Indian team. Since he along with team-mates Shubman Gill and Arshdeep Singh was playing on his home turf for the first time in an international match, the whole family, including his father Rajkumar Sharma and my daughter Komal Sharma and her husband Lovish Oberoi, came to watch the match to support them as well as the Indian team. Of course, like any mother, I get nervous when he bats. We had hoped to see a big score from him but then that’s cricket. We will be going to Dharamshala for the next match of the series and we hope to see Abhishek scoring a century there,” said Manju Sharma, mother of Abhishek Sharma, while speaking with The Indian Express.

Harmanpreet Bhullar and Yuvraj in attendance

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann along with World Cup winners Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar and Yuvraj Singh inaugurated the stands named after the two cricketers prior to the second T20I between India and South Africa. In a ceremony also attended by BCCI president Mithun Manhans, Mann congratulated Kaur and Singh. Kaur, who was the captain of the Women’s World Cup-winning Indian women’s cricket team last month, was present along with her parents Harmandar Singh Bhullar and Satwinder Kaur. Punjab Cricket Association president Amarjit Singh Mehta also honoured Kaur and Women’s World Cup-winning Indian women’s cricket team member Amanjot Kaur with a cash award of Rs 11 lakh and fielding coach of the Women’s World Cup winning Indian team Munish Bali with a cash award of Rs 5 lakh. Women’s World Cup winning Indian women’s cricket team member Harleen Deol too was present on the occasion.

“I think it’s a special moment for me. Finally, there will be a stand named after me in the land where I started playing cricket. It’s really a proud moment for me and I really want to thank the Punjab Cricket Association for that,” Kaur said in a video posted by PCA’s social media page.

Harleen Deol was awarded a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh by the PCA.

Specially abled fans disappointed

While Punjab Cricket Association had put out posters for parking as well as special entries for specially abled cricket fans, some of them were disappointed that they were not given entry at lower stands. Kamaljit Singh, a specially abled fan from Nakodar, who had come to the match with his friends, had to get to the newly inaugurated Yuvraj Singh West Upper North Stand with his wheelchair and had to travel the long ramp to the fifth tier of the 38,000-capacity stadium.

“We had come to watch the match with the hope that we will be watching the match from the lower stands but the officials as well as security officials did not let us enter the lower stands. If PCA had put boards for special stands for specially abled fans, they should have arranged seating at the lower stands. I had to come to the top tier with my wheelchair and that was the sore point of the whole match,” said Amarjit Singh while speaking with The Indian Express.

While there were traffic snarls near the stadium roads, fans waited in long queues to enter the stadium. The PCA had opened the stand gates at 5 pm, yet most of the fans had to walk for more than one km. “Only the VVIPS were allowed to park near the stadium. We had to walk for more than one km apart from taking a detour to reach the stadium. Also, prices of food items inside the stadium were very costly, with one burger starting at Rs 150 per piece and a small pizza at Rs 300 in general and student stands,” said Pranjal Thakur, a student from Chandigarh.