India-W vs Bangladesh-W: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana criticise umpiring in third ODI

Add as a preferred source on Google

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and her deputy Smriti Mandhana criticised umpiring decisions during India-W vs Bangladesh-W third ODi in Mirpur on Saturday (July 22, 2023). The match, officiated by Bangladeshi field umpires Muhammad Kamruzzaman and Tanvir Ahmed, was tied with some debatable decisions coming under scanner.

Both teams were locked at identical scores of 225 and the series ended in a 1-1 draw. Harmanpreet Kaur has courted controversy after she was adjudged leg-before off a Nahida Akter delivery while trying to sweep.

She claimed that the ball hit the bat before hitting the pads. She broke the stumps in disgust and termed the umpiring "pathetic" at the post-match presentation.

"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.

"They (Bangladesh) batted really well, batted according to the situation. They were taking those singles which were very crucial. In between, we leaked a few runs but we controlled the game very well when we were batting, but as I mentioned earlier, some pathetic umpiring was done. We are really disappointed about some decisions given by the umpires."

Meanwhile Mandhana shot back when questioned about the umpiring during the post-match press conference. "What did you think? In any match, sometimes it happens that you are not really happy with the kind of umpiring, especially when there is no DRS in the series this time.

"We expect a little better level. I would term it in a better way that, better level of umpiring in terms of some decisions, because it was very evident in some decisions, there was not even a second thought given if the ball hit the pad. Not even one-second thought was given and the finger went up."

Mandhana hoped having neutral umpires would be the way forward.

"I am sure that ICC, the BCB and the BCCI will definitely have a discussion on that, maybe we have a neutral umpiring system so that we do not sit here having this discussion, maybe we can focus on cricket and cricket-oriented questions," she said.

Talking about Kaur's actions being contrary to 'Spirit of Cricket', Mandhana said that will be a discussion for another day.

"What happened in the middle is part and parcel of the game. We have seen these incidents so much in the past in men's cricket," Mandhana said in defence.

"When you play for India, you want to win the match. It happens in the heat of the moment, but I think she was not really happy with the decision given (against her). She was given out and she felt that she was not out," she added.

"When you want to win so badly, I think the spirit of the game and all those things, definitely we can talk about later. But knowing Harman as a person, knowing how much she wants to win for India, from the spirit of the game (perspective) that it is (wrong), but yeah, when you really want that 'W' on the board for India, these things happen."

With inputs from PTI