Former Indian player Diana Edulji critics over Harmanpreet Kaur’s actions she executed during Bangladesh vs India 3rd ODI game on Saturday.
Diana Edulji Critics over Harmanpreet Kaur
Harmanpreet Kaur was subjected to criticism for her actions in the third ODI on the Indian women’s Bangladesh tour 2023. The dissatisfaction can be expressed by players to umpires but this time it feels like Harmanpreet Kaur had crossed a few lines.
The third and final ODI between India Women and Bangladesh Women on Saturday (July 22) ended in a tie with the series level at 1-1 as both teams won a game apiece. India lost their last six wickets for 34 runs in the final ODI and failed to chase a target of 226.
However, apart from the batting collapse, there was an incident in the 34th over of the chase that became a major talking point. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was adjudged a leg-before wicket to Bangladesh bowler Nahida Akter. Kaur wasn’t pleased with the decision and hits the stumps with the bat in frustration as she walked off.
She further had a heated discussion with umpire Tanvir Ahmed and thereafter expressed her disappointment with the umpiring standards during the post-match presentation. Kaur was handed three demerit points for her behaviour.
From scattering the stumps to calling the umpires for end-of-series photographs with the team her actions become the hot topic of discussion in the spectrum.
It was not the first time she lost her coolness, she had done it before on various occasions with her fellow batter, against the Umpires and even threw her bat in the field.
The former India captain Diana Edulji slammed Harmanpreet’s actions, suggesting it was probably because of her poor form with the bat that Harmanpreet lost her coolness in the match.
“Cricketers reacting to a bad umpiring decision, though not ideal, is nothing new. To a certain extent, one can be pardoned since when you get out in a crunch match, sometimes it is difficult to control the emotions.
Harmanpreet isn’t the first cricketer to show dissent and the ICC rightly imposed sanctions on her. I understand wrong decisions were made. We have seen wrong decisions in the past too, not only in women’s cricket but in men’s cricket too,” Edulji wrote.
“However, what happened post-game was not needed, all the more because Harmanpreet is the Indian captain. She has set a bad example for her teammates.
I say that because juniors look up to seniors and this, over a period of time, can impact the team culture. This makes Harmanpreet’s behaviour all the more unacceptable,” said Edulji, a former cricketer who represented India in 20 Test matches and 34 ODIs.
“It was deplorable to see Harmanpreet call the umpires to pose with the Bangladesh team, suggesting that they were part of the team and playing for them.
I am aware that Harman is hot-tempered, and maybe her ugly conduct was because she wasn’t able to score runs. But she crossed the limit that day as she continued to protest during the presentation ceremony,” said Edulji.
Harleen Deol won the Player of the Match award for her 77 runs off 108 deliveries while Fargana Hoque was crowned as the player of the series.
