BCCI Faces Backlash Over Errors at Naman Awards Ceremony
BCCI's Naman Awards Ceremony Under Fire
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) encountered significant criticism from cricket enthusiasts during their annual 'Naman Awards' held on March 15 in Delhi. The event not only celebrated the top performers of 2025 but also honored all five Indian teams that secured ICC trophies, including the senior men's team for their victories in the 2025 Champions Trophy and the 2026 T20 World Cup, as well as the senior women's team for their remarkable achievement in the 2025 Women's World Cup. Additionally, both the U19 men's and women's teams were recognized for their respective World Cup wins in 2025 and 2026.
Major Mistakes by BCCI
As the U19 women's team, led by captain Nikki Prasad, took the stage to receive their award, fans quickly pointed out a glaring error: the graphic displayed behind them featured the senior women's team, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur, celebrating their World Cup victory from the previous year.
The screen behind has the Senior Team graphic of the World Cup 2025 win while the U19 are being felicitated! Don’t tell me they care ! 🤦‍♀️ https://t.co/KsQ6rcBcSd
— Asli BCCI Women (@AsliBCCIWomen1) March 15, 2026
Another tweet criticized the BCCI for treating women's cricket as mere tokenism.
Women's cricket is nothing more than tokenism for BCCI https://t.co/FaduNQG7EO
— Srini R (@SriniR_2025) March 15, 2026
Later, three players from each victorious senior team were invited to engage in a discussion with Harsha Bhogle. Harmanpreet Kaur and Suryakumar Yadav represented the teams that won the 2025 Women's World Cup and the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup, respectively, while Shubman Gill, vice-captain of the 2025 Champions Trophy-winning team, also participated. Notably, Rohit Sharma, who captained India to victory in the Champions Trophy, was absent from the event.
However, another mistake occurred when Gill was mistakenly introduced as the captain of the Champions Trophy-winning team.
If it's a mistake, it's a question mark on the professionalism of the telecast. It’s a hygiene issue where basic things are not checked. If it’s a PR (I don’t think so), it’s an extremely poor attempt. The guy is getting due recognition (Cricketer of the year). He doesn’t need… pic.twitter.com/WDTpaehw0N
— Amit T (@amittalwalkar) March 16, 2026
Following the event, BCCI deleted the post that incorrectly referred to Shubman Gill as the winning captain of the Champions Trophy.
BCCI has finally deleted the post mentioning Shubman Gill as Champions Trophy winning captain.🤣Power of Rohit FC. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rGu7X6RYno
— Rohan💫 (@rohann__45) March 15, 2026
Despite the controversies, Gill was honored with the Polly Umrigar Award for the men's cricketer of the year, having scored an impressive 1764 runs in 35 matches at an average of 49, including seven centuries.