HYDERABAD: The final, deciding Women’s ODI between Bangladesh and India should have been about the exciting finish, but instead, India’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s behaviour – when she smashed the stumps after being given ‘out’ and called the umpiring “pathetic” – has become the talking point.
During the awards presentation ceremony after the third ODI, Harmanpreet said “A lot of learning from this game. … we were very surprised at the type of umpiring that was happening. The next time we come to Bangladesh, we’ll have to prepare ourselves to deal with this kind of umpiring.”
Though her critical comments did not go down well with the cricketing community in general, there were some who supported her.
Teammate Smriti Mandhana defended Kaur’s behaviour, saying, “She felt that she wasn’t out... I feel that it’s just the heat of the moment and nothing much.”
The Indian captain’s reaction was “understandable,” according to Gargi Banerji, who made her international debut when she was under 15. “She is also a human being. When an umpire makes a bad decision, it is usually attributed to human error. There was also no replay,” she said, adding, “I think the criticism of the umpiring was very much justified. It is not the first time that such things have happened on a cricket field (men’s cricket).”
“It is high time that the ICC stepped in and considered appointing neutral umpires in all International matches,” another ex-India player Rita Dey said.
“It was the heat of the moment,” felt Yaduvinder Singh, who coached Harmanpreet as a child in Punjab. “Players of this calibre should have avoided it. However, there are some things over which you have no control. Everyone wants to win. Fairly.”
Surprisingly, neither the ICC nor the BCCI has taken any action against the skipper of the India Women’s Team.
