07 November,2025 05:09 PM IST | Mumbai | Nandini Shah
Picture courtesy/ Aliens Tattoo
Indian women's cricket team captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, immortalised her feeling of triumph after winning the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 with a tattoo of the World Cup trophy.
Celebrity tattoo artist Sunny Bhanushali gets candid about the story behind Harmanpreet Kaur's tattoo. The founder and CEO of Aliens Tattoo sat down with mid-day to have a discussion about the process of selecting and inking the tattoo.
Harmanpreet Kaur first met Sunny Bhanushali when she decided to get her first tattoo inked in 2024 at Aliens Tattoo. The design was a bold geometric mandala inspired by the philosophy âAham Brahmasmi,' which means 'I am the universe.' A complex design, it featured several symbols such as a Celtic knot and Brahma yantra that held spiritual meanings.
She returned to the tattoo studio a year later, after her historic World Cup win. Sunny Bhanushali says it feels extremely special to be part of both chapters of her life and to be entrusted with the responsibility of marking both moments.
Bhanushali reveals that she manifested her win through her first tattoo. He states, "When Harman walked in a year ago for 'Aham Brahmasmi,' she wasn't just asking for a tattoo; she was putting her philosophy, her discipline, and her dream on her arm. There was a quiet fire in her as she spoke to us about the reasons and visions behind the tattoo. The kind that told you she wasn't chasing victory, she was becoming it. She had this manifestation set in her approach to the design: âWe will win.'"
Harmanpreet expressed her intent to win through the medium of the tattoo. When she returned with a World Cup win and chose to get the trophy etched on her skin, Bhanushali recalls that it felt like "watching someone's manifestation complete a full circle."
Talking about her journey, he remarks, "That's the magic of tattooing, pieces don't just sit on the skin; they grow with the person, they travel with them, and eventually become chapters of who they are."
Talking about Harmanpreet's arrival in the studio, he says, "Harmanpreet walked in with this mix of exhaustion and joy that athletes have only after they've given everything and finally held the thing they've dreamt about. She just smiled and knew what she wanted, and it was the trophy."
Elaborating upon the process of designing the tattoo, he says, "Her vision was drenched in emotions and detail, where she wanted to capture the
entirety of the victory. And we translated those emotions into the now iconic trophy with the year 2025 and the number 52 that represented the team winning by 52 runs and achieving the title of World Champions after 52 years.
He explains that this tattoo was different because of "how little she wanted to say and how much she wanted the tattoo to mean."
Looking at the finished tattoo, she felt a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. "She looked at it with this soft, satisfied smile and a clear aura of pride. The kind you see when someone feels a moment settle into their heart. It wasn't loud, it wasn't dramatic" Bhanushali recalls. At that moment, she recognised that she had achieved everything she had dreamt of. With this tattoo, Harmanpreet reaffirmed that she treated cricket like a sacred duty.
Indian opener Smriti Mandhana also chose to mark the win through a tattoo. She got the World Cup trophy inked on her arm at Aliens Tattoo on the same day.
