Bangladesh women’s team captain, Nigar Sultana, strongly criticized her Indian counterpart, Harmanpreet Kaur, for her aggressive behavior during the one-day international (ODI) match between India and Bangladesh held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur a day earlier.
After being dismissed in the match, the Indian captain forcefully smashed the stumps and continued to voice her dissatisfaction with the umpiring throughout the series. Nigar Sultana condemned Kaur’s unsportsmanlike conduct during the third ODI, but Smriti Mandhana, the Indian captain’s deputy, defended her actions.
Feeling insulted by Kaur’s behavior, Nigar discussed the matter with officials from the Bangladesh Cricket Board immediately after the post-match presentation. She expressed her dismay at Kaur’s lack of sportsmanship and how it made her team uncomfortable during the session.
“It is entirely her problem. I have nothing to do with it. As a player, she could have shown better manners. I can’t divulge what happened, but it didn’t feel right to be there [for the photograph] with my team,” Nigar Sultana stated firmly.
Emphasizing that cricket is a game of discipline and respect, she explained that her team chose to leave the post-match presentation as it was not the right environment for such behavior.
The match between the two Asian rivals was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Kaur’s actions and the dissatisfaction with the umpiring standards from both teams. India expressed frustration with two particular instances of umpiring decisions – the dismissal of Yastika Bhatia due to an lbw and the Meghna Singh dismissal.
Harmanpreet Kaur criticized the umpiring and implied that the umpires were biased towards the Bangladesh team, suggesting they should join the Bangladesh team for the end-of-series photo session. She also mentioned that the team would have to prepare themselves accordingly for future matches in Bangladesh.
However, Nigar Sultana defended the umpires, stating that they were experienced officials from men’s international cricket and that the umpire’s decision is final, whether she agrees with it or not. She questioned why the India players did not show the same respect for the umpire’s decisions in other instances during the match.
The drawn game between the two teams was overshadowed by the controversy, raising concerns about sportsmanship and umpiring standards in the series.
