‘Ye umpire Bangladesh ke the na ye toh hona hi tha’ – Fans react as Harmanpreet Kaur expresses her anger on umpires after 3rd ODI ends in a draw
Furious after India’s chances of winning the ODI series against Bangladesh were hurt by some questionable umpiring decisions, Harmanpreet Kaur erupted in flames during the post-match presentation ceremony. At the Shere Bangla National Cricket Stadium, the third ODI was an exciting match in which all of the players gave it their all. The final score of the game was a tie, and the teams split the series with one victory apiece.
India needed to score 226 runs to win, but they lost a few early wickets. However, Smriti Mandhana and Harleen Deol put on a partnership of 107 runs to help the opposition come closer to the goal. India still needed 87 runs as Harmanpreet Kaur stepped up to the crease after Mandhana’s wicket fell. The calm Indian skipper attempted to lead her team closer to the target, but a controversial LBW call ended her innings.
In the 34th over, Kaur attempted to sweep a delivery from Nahida Akter. But the ball crashed on her pad and found its way into the first slip’s hands. She was declared out LBW by the umpire. After the call, the 34-year-old became enraged and reacted by smashing the stumps with her bat. She appeared to indicate that the ball hit her bat first on the way back.
Meghna Singh, India’s No. 11 player, received a caught-behind penalty later in the match when the scores were tied. The pacer appeared to disagree with the decision as well, though she didn’t express her displeasure in the same way as her captain.
Clear Out (LBW / Catch) #BANWvsINDW | #ODI pic.twitter.com/UR6YJmaQRB
— Kazi Tajkir Hossen (@TajkirHossen14) July 22, 2023
Harmanpreet Kaur criticized the umpires for several of the contentious calls made throughout the game after the game. She added that they will prepare for the umpiring standard when India visits Bangladesh in the future.
After the match in the post-match conference, the India skipper said, “Harmanpreet Kaur said “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 & prepare ourselves”.
Let us look at how Twitter reacted to this statement from the Indian skipper;
2 LBW decision were very controversial
— Shubman Gang (@ShubmanGang) July 22, 2023
https://twitter.com/revisitorSam/status/1682770282975567872?s=20
https://twitter.com/NA__SR__EEN3/status/1682741204805640194?s=20
Harmanpreet has been complaining a lot; should focus less on umpires.
— RahlS_2017 (@RSu27738855) July 22, 2023
Agreed 2 decisions were controversial. But what about the rest? Mandhana and Kaur herself were slow. The lower order too, didn't contribute anything. Kaur needs to introspect and blame her players as well. Accept that we were beaten by a minnow.
— Sahil (@Im_SVee) July 22, 2023
— SazzaDul Islam (@iam_sazzad) July 22, 2023
To anyone defending Bangladeshis umpiring I just have to say: “There’s a basic level of neutrality which we expect in international matches umpiring”.
If even the basics are wrong it needs to be dealt with strong words and even stronger actions.
— Randomizer (@kumarvinee83503) July 22, 2023
Never seen any captain crying in front of media like this. There have been way poor umpiring standards in 1990s & 2000s. None of the captains cried like u r crying. Stop this, accept the result and let's move on. All the best for The Hundred.
— Cric Top Class (@crictopclass) July 22, 2023
https://twitter.com/galat_londey/status/1682724744590929933?s=20