Former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi shared his thought on the recent controversy regarding India women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur during the third ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
The Indian captain was incensed after being given out LBW during the match which ended in a tie that resulted in the three-ODI series also ending 1-1. In reaction to her dismissal, Harmanpreet first smashed the stumps with her bat and walked towards the pavilion while gesturing towards the umpire.
During the post-match conversation, she severely criticized the umpiring during the series and went as far as calling it ‘pathetic’.
Later when the two teams were posing for the photographs, Harmanpreet asked the organizers to call the umpires as well as she allegedly said that the officials had won the match for the home team, which led to an angry Nigar Sultana leading the Bangladeshi team back to the pavilion.
As a result, the ICC decided to add four demerit points to Harmanpreet’s record, resulting in her being banned for the next two matches that India will play and being fined 75% of her match fees. Per the ruling, a player who gets 4 demerit points, is to miss one Test or two ODIs or 2 T20Is, whichever comes next.
The veteran cricketer has been slammed by many in the Indian spectrum over her behavior, and now, even former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has criticized her. According to Afridi, the Indian batter should've been fined 100 percent of her match fee.
"This is not just India. We've seen these things in the past as well. However, we don't see this often in women's cricket. This was way too much, it was a big event under ICC. With the punishment, you set an example for the future. You can get aggressive in cricket; controlled aggression is good, but this was a bit too much," Afridi told Samaa TV.
Unfortunately for Harmanpreet and the Indian team, the next tournament they play is the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Having already qualified for the quarter-finals, the team will be without the services of its captain for the two knockout games.
