Harmanpreet has been slapped with a two-match ban for her ugly on-field behaviour.
After being adjudged caught at slip, Harmanpreet lost her cool and hit the stumps with her bat. While walking back to the pavilion, she gestured towards the umpire that there was a bat involved and also slammed the match officials in the presentation ceremony.
Kaur was found guilty of breaching article 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, relating to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision”. As a result, she has been slapped with a two-match ban.
Speaking to Revsportz, Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty opened up on the bitterly contested series and claimed that the umpiring issue was raised because India did not win.
"You are right in saying such things happen in sports and it is not the first time. You are also right in saying that it happened in the heat of the moment,” Joty said.
"However, had it been restricted to the field of play, honestly speaking I would not have felt bad about it or felt disappointed. I would have told my players that it was all in the intensity of the moment and it is better than all of us moved on from it. But what really disappointed me was that it was not restricted to the field of play. Let me tell you something. For my players too Harmanpreet is a legend of the game. They too look up to her. And when they came and said to me how can a legend of her stature do this to us, I felt sad and disappointed. That's what has pained me the most."
Notably, Harmanpreet Kaur mocked the Bangladesh team during the joint photograph session after the three-match WODI series ended at 1-1.
In a video doing rounds on social media, the Indian captain can be seen calling the umpires to join in as well, implying them to be part of the Bangladesh team. Offended by the act, her Bangladesh counterpart asked her players to walk away from the joint photograph session.
Asked if she could have reacted differently as opposed to taking her team off the field, Joty said, "There are certain things that are permissible in sport and there are certain things that are not. By the time of the prize giving the game was over. The match had ended and it was over and done with. Off the field, we are all players who play the same sport and should have respect for each other. That's what we are taught in sports and that's what I believe in. To tell you the truth I had felt that whatever may have happened earlier Harmanpreet and Smriti would walk up to my girls and give them a pat on their back after the match was over and tell them well played."
She added, "Coming from players of their calibre and stature it would have meant the world for our girls. I have seen legends like M S Dhoni or Virat Kohli do this after a game is over. I am sure you have seen this happen after many IPL games or even international games. When it did not happen and she said things which were disrespectful and hurtful during the prize giving, I decided to walk away with my team. I did not want to stay there anymore and add to the occasion. Someone had to end it and by walking away I did so. We shouldn't let unpleasant things go on and by walking away I tried to put an end to things."
Nigar Sultana Joty also dismissed India’s claims of poor umpiring, saying that those were the very same officials in the preceding T20I series that the visitors won.
"The very same umpires officiated in the T-20 series which India won. In fact, that too was a very close series and I feel we should have done better in the second game and won it but we did not. But that is not the point here. The moot point is the very same umpires officiated in the T-20 series as well. There was not a single complaint from India. Is it because they had won the series? Had they won the final ODI, would they have raised the issue of umpiring or was it raised because they did not win the series and they were disappointed and frustrated with the result? We have always been taught as cricketers to respect the umpire's decision as final and move on."