When Harmanpreet Kaur Lost Her Temper And The Plot

The ugly incident involving India captain Harmanpreet Kaur during the last match of the three-game ODI series with Bangladesh was nothing short of ridiculous

THE UGLY incident involving India captain Harmanpreet Kaur during the last match of the three-game One-Day International series with Bangladesh was nothing short of ridiculous, not just for the intensity of the tirade that cricketer enacted on the field, but for the sheer length of time that she went on with it.

With the series tied at 1-1, the last game was a must-win and as it turned out, this game too ended in a draw and the two sides shared the trophy. But that is only half the story. The real story was how the India skipper not only lost her temper but also took shots at the officials, organisers, and rivals in an unending harangue.

Harmanpreet evidently was not too pleased by the manned in which she was given out leg-before as India were at a critical stage during the run chase. So incensed was the India captain that she let loose a vocal volley and shattered the stumps with her bat while walking out.

One would have assumed this was the end of it, but no. The skipper wasn’t done.

She let loose during the post-match interview, claiming that the next time India visited Bangladesh, the team would also prepare for the umpiring as much as the opponents.

Was that the end? No!

The ritual photograph was supposed to be next but here too, Harmanpreet just would not put a lid on it. She loudly asked for the umpires too to be brought on for the photograph and had quite a bit to say to rival skipper Nigar Sultana.

Nigar walked off with her side and later said that the environment was not right for the photo session.

This is not the first time that India and Bangladesh have had issues during matches.

A near-fracas during an Under-19 match a few years ago was preceded by some rather unwelcome posters in Bangladesh when the Indian senior team had visited.

Even in Sri Lanka, during the ongoing ACC Emerging Nations Asia Cup, the Bangladesh team had a lot to say during their semi-final against India, and the Indians gave it back in kind during their win, with veteran Bangladeshi player Soumya Sarkar also being given a verbal, which had threatened to escalate.

But the important thing with all of these was that none of them carried on after the match, or the immediate flare-up.

One would have assumed that saner heads would calm Harmanpreet Kaur down after the match, but those seem to be surfeit in the dressing room.

She might have been the aggrieved party, but to carry on unendingly was neither needed nor pretty. Her penalty was light compared to her violation of all codes.

Cricket captains, like all athletes, are ambassadors of the country and they need to draw a line about how far they want to stretch a contentious issue. In this case, there was no line. That is unacceptable.

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