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"I think (there is) a lot of learning for us from the game. Even apart from the cricket, the kind of umpiring that was happening, we were very surprised. The next time we come to Bangladesh we will make sure we have to deal with this type of umpiring and prepare ourselves accordingly," Harmanpreet told the broadcaster after the match. (Twitter/BCCI Women) Harmanpreet Kaur’s disapproval of the officiating in the final ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur on Saturday was evident with her reaction to being given out caught at slip while mistiming a sweep — smashing the stumps and having a heated discussion with the umpire as she walked off.
While the official decision says she was caught, it is unclear whether the umpire had signalled for LBW or not, which Harmanpreet evidently disagreed with as she walked off gesturing to her glove and giving a thumbs up to the local crowd.
There were three decisions that irked the Indians in particular: The dismissals of Harmanpreet, Meghna Singh and Yastika Bhatia. Bangladesh’s Muhammad Kamruzzman and Tanvir Ahmed were the umpires for the game.
For the Harmanpreet and Meghna dismissals, the umpire at the bowler’s end was Tanvir while Kamruzzman gave Yastika out.
Later, in the post-match interview, she made her displeasure with the umpiring blatantly clear. “A lot of learning from this game. Even apart from the cricket, the type of umpiring that was happening there, we were very surprised,” the Indian skipper said.
That moment from Harmanpreet Kaur 🔥☄️#BANvIND #CricketTwitter
— Women’s CricZone (@WomensCricZone) July 22, 2023
“The next time whenever we are coming to Bangladesh, we’ll have to make sure we have to deal with this kind of umpiring and accordingly we’ll have to prepare ourselves.”
The moment ended up being a pivotal one as India collapsed shortly after that wicket. Smriti Mandhana and Harleen Deol had stitched together a 107-run third wicket stand to solidify India’s run chase of 226 and put them in a solid position to do so in the final 15 overs. Deol fell shortly after Harmanpreet, and then India lost six wickets for just 34 runs in the final eight overs. With scores tied and four balls to go, tailender Meghna Singh loosely edged a Marufa Akter in-swinger to leave the match, and series, tied.
The elongated presence of Harmanpreet, who had been one of the only Indian batswomen to have looked steady and confident in spinning conditions throughout the tour in Mirpur, could have impacted this game. She had hit 165 runs across the three T20Is and two previous ODIs including a match-winning 35-ball 54 in the first T20.
— Akash (@im_akash196) July 22, 2023
The 34-year-old did not mince words before attacking the umpire in her post-match interview again. “Some pathetic umpiring was done and we are really disappointed about some decisions given by the umpires,” she said.
Throughout the three T20Is and three ODIs in Mirpur, there was no Decision Review System (DRS) in place.
The Indian skipper did not hold back, next making her displeasure with the invite list for the final ODI clear: “Lastly, our High Commission from India is also there and I hope you could have invited him here, but that is also fine.”
Her Bangladeshi counterpart Nigar Sultana, meanwhile, took potshots at Harmanpreet at the end of the game, saying the Indian skipper “could have shown better manners”.
“It is totally her (Harmanpreet’s) problem. I have nothing to do with it. As a player, she could have shown better manners. 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,” Nigar said at the press conference when asked about the incident with her counterpart.
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