Harmanpreet blasts ‘pathetic’ refereeing; Nigar slams India captain’s ‘manners’

The final and decider of the women’s ODI between Bangladesh and India should have been an exciting finale as ended in a drawbut instead, Harman Preet KaurHer conduct – she smashed the stumps after being handed over, later calling the referee “pathetic” – has become the topic of conversation.

While Smriti Mandhana defended her captain in the post-match press conference, the captain of Bangladesh nigar sultana he did not hold back, saying that Harmanpreet “could have shown better manners”.

In the over 34 of India’s chase of 226, Harmanpreet was caught slipping off Nahida Akter while attempting a sweep. Did it come off the pads or was there a piece of glove or bat in the way? Harmanpreet hit the stumps with his bat after being handed out, and then had words for the umpires before walking off, giving a thumbs up to the crowd on his way. Initially it seemed that Harmanpreet was not happy as he assumed it was an lbw call, but the referee made the call after the catch was completed.

Yastika Bhatia she had earlier protested lbw’s decision against her in the fifth over, standing her ground and looking at the referee after being loaned out. Later, in the final over, after Jemimah Rodrigues’s single had tied the score, meghna singh She played away from her body on the next delivery from Marufa Akter, and gave it a catch from behind.

Interestingly, Meghna seemed to be walking towards the locker room initially, even as the Bangladeshi players celebrated around her, but then she stopped and started talking to the referee.

For the dismissals of Harmanpreet and Meghna, the umpire at the pitcher’s end was the experienced Tanvir Ahmedwhile for the Yastika wicket, it was Muhammad Kamruzzaman.

“A lot of learning from this game,” Harmanpreet said at the unveiling ceremony. “Even apart from cricket, the type of officiating that was going on there, we were very surprised. Next time we come to Bangladesh, we will have to make sure that we have to deal with this type of officiating and accordingly we will have to prepare.”

Bangladesh, batting first after winning the toss, rode on Fargana Hoque’s 107 to score 225 for 4. In the chase when Harmanpreet was dismissed, India were 160 for 4 in 33.4 overs and well positioned to win. But they collapsed to 225 in total.

“Maybe we can have a neutral officiating system maybe next time so we don’t sit around having these discussions and maybe we can focus more on cricket and cricket oriented questions.”Smriti Mandhana

“They (Bangladesh) hit very well, they hit according to the situation. They took those singles which were very crucial,” Harmanpreet said. “In the middle, we leaked some runs, but when we were batting, we controlled the game very well. But, as I mentioned earlier, some pathetic umpiring was done and we’re really disappointed by some decisions made by the umpires.”

ESPNcricinfo understands that when the end-of-series photograph was being taken with both sets of players, Harmanpreet yelled “bring the refs too,” suggesting they were part of the Bangladesh team. Nigar is understood to have discussed it with BCB officials and took his players to the locker room shortly after.

“It’s totally his problem. I have nothing to do with it,” Nigar said at the press conference when asked about the incident. “As a player, I could have shown better manners. I can’t tell you what happened, but it didn’t feel right to be there (for the photo) with my team. It wasn’t the right environment. That’s why we came back. Cricket is a game of discipline and respect.”

On the refereeing, Nigar said: “The umpires wouldn’t give her an out if she wasn’t out. We had male international cricket umpires, so they were good umpires. What are they (India) going to say about the caught-out-or-catch-out dismissals (of which there were six excluding the Harmanpreet and Meghna grounds)? We have respected their decisions. The umpire’s decision is the final decision, whether I like it or not. Why don’t we (like the Indian players) behave that way?”

At the press conference, Mandhana had said that Harmanpreet was caught in the heat of the moment as she could not accept the referee’s decision. “When you play for India, you want to win the game, and it happens on the spur of the moment,” Mandhana said. “I think she (Harmanpreet) wasn’t really happy with the decision that was made and she felt that she wasn’t out there. That’s why that (reaction) came about. It’s just the heat of the moment and nothing more.”

“What happened in the middle is an integral part of the game. We’ve seen a lot of these incidents in the past as well. When you really want that ‘W’ on the board for India, these things happen.”

Mandhana, however, asked the ICC to appoint neutral arbitrators in future.

“In any game, sometimes it happens that you’re really not happy with the (decisions). Especially when there’s no DRS in a game in a series like this, we expect a little bit better level of officiating in terms of some decisions,” he said. “It was very evident that there was not a second thought when the ball hit the bag when our hitters were hitting. There was not a second thought before the finger went up.

“I’m sure the ICC, BCB and BCCI will have more discussions on that and maybe we can have a neutral officiating system maybe next time so we don’t sit here having these discussions and maybe we can focus more on cricket and cricket oriented questions.”

Separately, Harmanpreet also criticized the BCB for not inviting the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Pranay Kumar Verma, for the presentation ceremony even though he was present at the venue. “Our high commissioner from India is also there. I hope they invited him here too, but that’s fine too.”