Mullanpur stadium still without a name

Soon after the election of Sangrur MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer as the general secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), the international cricket stadium in Mullanpur has a new board inside the arena with the name of the cricket body written in Gurmukhi Script.

Even though the stadium goes by the name of Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, highly placed sources claim that the naming of the stadium after the former ruler of the erstwhile Patiala state has not made it to the records of PCA’s books. The BCCI calls the venue as the new PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh.

As per documentation available on the official website, the PCA, while submitting half-yearly compliance report (monitoring period ending September 2025) to the Director (Government of India) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India, named the facility as ‘IS Bindra Cricket Stadium by PCA (Project Name) and International Cricket Stadium (Project Type)’.

It was during a general meeting of 2020-21 that the then house proposed naming the stadium after Maharaja Yadavindra Singh. The approval was said to be accorded by the competent authority. However, till date, no official document or a prominent mention of this name has been found or placed inside or outside the stadium. “I only remember that the naming of the stadium after Maharaja Yadavindra Singh was proposed, nothing beyond that,” said Puneet Bali, the then general secretary of PCA.

Sources in the PCA maintained that the name of the stadium may be changed, but not this year. “How can we possibly rename the stadium when there’s no record if it was approved to be called as Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium? Had it been so, why is there no mention of the name anywhere in the arena? The stadium will be named but not right now, as it involves a whole lot of process,” said an official.

The stadium hosted its first big match during the 2024 edition of the IPL. Last year, it hosted two woman’s ODI matches, and one T20I. In June, the stadium is scheduled to host its first ever Test match.