DHAKA: India women’s team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has defended skipper Harmanpreet Kaur after the latter was accused of misbehaving with Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty.
The third and final one-day international (ODI) between India women and Bangladesh women witnessed a number of dramatic instances. The match ended in a thrilling tie, with both teams sharing the trophy.
In the 34th over of India’s chase of 226, Harmanpreet was given out caught at slip off Nahida Akter while attempting a sweep. Kaur hit the stumps with her bat after being given out, and then had words for the umpires before walking off.
Initially, it looked like Harmanpreet was unhappy as she assumed it was a lbw decision, but the umpire made the decision after the catch was completed.
Later, Kaur reportedly insulted Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana by asking her to call umpires for a post-match photo. She shouted “bring the umpires too”, suggesting that the officials were also a part of the Bangladesh team.
Meanwhile, Nigar refused to stay with the Indian skipper for the photo session and instead decided to head to the dressing room with her teammates.
During a press conference, India opener Smriti Mandhana refuted reports of Harmanpreet’s bad behaviour and claimed that Kaur didn’t say anything bad about rival skipper.
Read More: India’s Harmanpreet Kaur misbehaves with umpire, videos go viral
“You peole are saying that. Harmanpreet said a thing or two about the umpires but not the captain of Bangladesh. As far as I know, she never spoke about the rival captain. I can’t talk about something which is not there,” she said.
Smriti Mandhana went on to say that she could not talk about anything that didn’t happen on camera or after the award ceremony.
“We should not talk about things which did not happen during the match. In the post-match things were not on camera, that is something which happened after the post-match presentation, so let’s not talk about it,” the 27-year-old added.
Furthermore, Harmanpreet, who destroyed her stumps after getting dismissed, is likely to get fined 75% of her match fee along with three demerit points by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for her unsportsmanlike behaviour.
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