Watch: Bangladesh players walk off over Indian cricketer's 'shameful' behaviour during prize distribution

Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana defends Harmanpreet Kaur's on-field reaction and said they expect better level of umpiring in terms of some decisions taken

By Web Desk

Published: Sun 23 Jul 2023, 6:57 PM

Last updated: Mon 24 Jul 2023, 10:36 AM

The Bangladesh women's cricket team, led by captain Nigar Sultana, staged a walk-off during the prize distribution ceremony after the third ODI against India tied, which resulted in the series ending in a 1-1 draw in Dhaka on Saturday.

The Bangladesh captain slammed Kaur for ruining what should have been a celebration of the tightly-fought series and incredible tie. 'It is totally her (Kaur) problem. I have nothing to do with it. As a player, she could have shown better manners,' Nigar said after the match.

'I can't tell you what happened, but it didn't feel right to be there [for the photograph] with my team. It wasn't the right environment. That's why we went back. Cricket is a game of discipline and respect.'

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It all started when Indian captain and batter Harmanpreet Kaur was dismissed for 14 in the run chase, given caught out at slip as she attempted to sweep the ball. She disagreed with the decision, stayed on the pitch and stared down at the umpire before wheeling around and smashing her stumps with her bat.

She called the umpiring decisions "pathetic" and then taunted the Bangladeshi players when both teams were posing with the shared series trophy.

"Why you are only here? You haven't tied the match. The umpires did it for you. Call them up! We better have photo with them as well,” Harmanpreet was heard telling her Bangladeshi counterpart Nigar Sultana.

This didn't go down well with Nigar, who, along with her teammates, decided to leave the photo session and staged a walk-off. Sports anchor and analyst for ARY called Harmanpreet's behaviour 'disgusting' and tweeted: "Harmerpreet Kaur's behavior was disgusting and stupid she should be punished for at least three to five matches."

Farid Khan, founder cricden.net wrote: "This is too much! These visuals should not be shown to young boys and girls. Harmanpreet Kaur has disrespected this beautiful game of cricket."

A popular Twitter handle, with over 1.4 million followers wrote: "I think she should be suspended from playing all kinds of Cricket for at least 6 months, before some sense dawns on her. Absolutely disgraceful."

Smriti Mandhana defends Harmanpreet

Harmanpreet Kaur might have gone ballistic but Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was way more tempered in her criticism of Bangladeshi umpires Muhammad Kamruzzaman and Tanvir Ahmed after the third WODI on Saturday was tied with some debatable decisions coming under scanner.

Both teams were locked at an identical score of 225 and the series ended in a 1-1 draw.

Mandhana shot back when questioned about the umpiring. "What did you think? 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," Mandhana 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,” Mandhana's suppressed her anger with a more balanced reply.

Mandhana hoped having neutral umpires would 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 said.

Talking about Kaur's actions being contrary to the 'spirit of cricket', Mandhana said that will be a discussion for another day.

"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,” Mandhana said in defence.

"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 added.

"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."

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