Nigar Sultana, the captain of the Bangladeshi women’s team has severely criticized the behavior of the Indian team and its captain Harmanpreet Kaur in the aftermath of the third and final ODI between the two sides in Dhaka, last Sunday.
In an exciting match, which ended in a tie, Harmanpreet Kaur and the Indian team were furious about the poor umpiring by the two local officials as they felt some of the decisions went against them and as a result, India lost an opportunity to win the encounter and the series.
Harmanpreet Kaur was the most aggrieved as she was visibly upset at the umpire’s decision to give her out LBW and showed her displeasure at the same. The decision was later changed to caught from LBW.
Later during the post-match presentation, she openly called the Bangladeshi umpires pathetic.
When the two teams were called for the photo shoot with the trophy, Harmanpreet allegedly told the Bangladeshi team to include the umpires as well, as they were the reason for them tying the match.
Following the outburst, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana spoke about how she and her team didn’t appreciate the behavior shown by the opposing captain.
Sultana was critical of Kaur, claiming that the Bangladesh team deserved greater credit from their opposition, rather than becoming a sideshow for Kaur’s temper and argument against the umpires.
“We expected appreciation from them and some words of encouragement which would have motivated our players. But what they did certainly does not leave a good message. The two teams were standing for the photo session and there was no point saying such a thing in front of the players as they could complain to the match referee according to the rules.,” Sultana told Daily Star.
“Obviously, it felt bad when they were not showing respect. So, I felt there was no point in standing there as I respect my teammates and I can't accept that,” she added.
Sultana also slammed Harmanpreet Kaur and said that the way the Indian captain carried on her frustrations after the match ended, overshadowed what her team had achieved.
“Cricket is a game of discipline and most importantly, whatever we do inspires others. So, we won't do anything that gives a bad message to the others who look up to us. As for the captain of India, whatever happened during the game -- whether it was losing temper or showing frustration -- was normal but it was not right to carry that even after the game.
We could have lost the game but in the end, we played better cricket and tied the match,” concluded Sultana.
On the other hand, BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Thursday informed the media that Binny and Laxman will talk to Kaur about her behavior.
“We will have our President Roger Binny and VVS Laxman speak to her (regarding the outburst). The ICC has already banned her and the time to appeal against the decision has already passed,” Shah said as per News18.
As a result of her tirade, Harmanpreet Kaur has been fined 75% of her match fees by the ICC along with four demerit points added to her record. As per rules, Kaur will now be suspended for nthe ext two matches that Ithe ndian team will play.
These two matches will come in the Asian Games where the Indian team has qualified for the quarter-finals directly. In athe bsence of Harmanpreet, Smriti Mandhana is expected to captain the team.
