Harmanpreet Kaur honoured with prestigious Champion Of The World award at CNN-News18 Indian Of The Year 2025

Harmanpreet Kaur fittingly produced the final act to deliver India its maiden Women's World Cup title (BCCI Photo)

India women's cricket team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was honoured with the Champion Of The World Award at the CNN-News18’s prestigious Indian of the Year Awards 2025, held in New Delhi on Friday. India marked a new chapter in women's cricket under Harmanpreet's leadership by winning the maiden World Cup title.

India had previously reached the finals on three occasions but had to be content with a runners-up position. However, this time the team finally crossed the mark with the final act of the historic night coming from the skipper herself.

“Lifting the World Cup was a dream we cherished since childhood. I would like to thank Jay Shah for his contributions to the Women’s cricket team – the pay parity and the Women’s Premier League (WPL) initiatives have been immensely helpful," Harmanpreet said after receiving the award from ICC Chairman and former BCCI secretary Jay Shah.

Harmanpreet has represented India in 343 matches so far, excluding the six Tests she has been part of. While she has amassed 4409 runs in ODIs and has seven hundreds under her name, her herculean effort of 115-ball 171* against Australia in the 2017 edition of the World Cup remains the most cherished. In a game reduced to 42 overs a side, and where no other Indian batter crossed 36, Harmanpreet smashed 20 fours and 7 sixes to hand Australia a crushing defeat, which was also their last at the showpiece event until India repeated the feat in the recently-concluded tournament.

Meanwhile, Shah's relentless efforts behind the scene towards development of women's cricket was also acknowledged with the Outstanding Achievement Award in the same evening. Shah while serving as the BCCI secretary, which he did until December 2024, helped India cricket script new benchmarks, including the implementation of pay parity between men’s and women’s cricket. In addition to it, he also played a major role in starting the Women’s Premier League (WPL), providing an IPL-level platform for aspiring female cricketers across the nation and overseas.

After accepting the award Shah dedicated the honour to India’s women’s cricket and the team that won the World Cup. “Harman is here, and so are Jhulan Di and Mithali, and I would like to dedicate this award to all of you," he said.