The third WODI between India and Bangladesh witnessed a number of contentious umpiring decisions.
The match witnessed a number of contentious umpiring decisions and the Women in Blue were at the receiving end of those calls.
During the game, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur hit the stumps with her bat after being given out LBW. While walking back to the pavilion, she also gestured towards the umpire that there was bat involved.
After the game, Harmanpreet’s deputy Smriti Mandhana expressed her disappointment over some of the debatable umpiring decisions.
"What did you think?" Mandhana shot back when questioned about the umpiring at the post-match press conference.
"In any match, sometimes it happens that you are not really happy with the kind of… especially when there is no DRS in the series this time," the southpaw said.
"We expect a little better level - I would term it in a better way that, better level of umpiring in terms of some decisions, because it was very evident in some decisions, there was not even a second thought given if the ball hit the pad. Not even one-second thought was given and the finger went up," she added.
Mandhana said having neutral umpires should be the way forward. "I am sure that ICC, the BCB and the BCCI will definitely have a discussion on that, maybe we have a neutral umpiring system so that we do not sit here having this discussion, maybe we can focus on cricket and cricket-oriented questions," she opined.
Mandhana also defended Harmanpreet’s actions which certainly looked against the 'Spirit of Cricket'.
"What happened in the middle is part and parcel of the game. We have seen these incidents so much in the past in men's cricket,” she said.
"When you play for India, you want to win the match. It happens in the heat of the moment, but I think she was not really happy with the decision given (against her). She was given out and she felt that she was not out," she further remarked.
"When you want to win so badly, I think the spirit of the game and all those things, definitely we can talk about later. But knowing Harman as a person, knowing how much she wants to win for India, from the spirit of the game (perspective) that it is (wrong), but yeah, when you really want that ‘W' on the board for India, these things happen," Mandhana concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)