Indian women’s cricket team captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, remains resolute in her stance despite facing a two-match ban for her actions during a contentious third One Day International (ODI) against Bangladesh in Dhaka last month.
Speaking exclusively to The Cricket Paper on the sidelines of The Women’s Hundred, where she is currently representing Trent Rockets, Kaur expressed no regrets about her behaviour during the fiery encounter. She believes in the player’s right to express their feelings and ensure fair proceedings on the field.
Kaur stated, “I will not say that I regret anything because at the end of the day as a player you want to see that fair things are happening. As a player you always have the right to express yourself and what you’re feeling.
“I don’t think I said anything wrong to any player or any person. I just said what happened on the field. I don’t regret anything,” she added.
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The contentious event occurred during the Dhaka ODI when Kaur displayed her dissatisfaction with the umpiring decisions. She reacted to her dismissal by forcefully hitting the stumps with her bat and later criticized the umpiring as “pathetic” during the post-match presentation. Furthermore, during the customary end-of-series photographs, Kaur reportedly exclaimed, “bring the umpires too,” implying their association with the Bangladesh team.
Consequently, Kaur faced three demerit points for “showing dissent at an umpiring decision” and one more for “public criticism” of match officials. She also faced fines of 50% and 25% of her match fees for these two offences. This accumulation of demerit points, totalling four within a 24-month period, led to her suspension for two international matches.
Due to her suspension, Kaur will miss the initial games of India’s participation in the Asian Games T20 competition scheduled to take place in Hangzhou, China, in September-October.
