‘It Is Not The First Time’: Bangladesh Captain Nigar Sultana Reacts To Harmanpreer Kaur’s Controversial Outburst During 3rd ODI
Nigar Sultana Reacts To Harmanpreer Kaur's Outburst
CRITICISED for her recent outbursts inside and outside the field, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been suspended for her next two international matches following two separate breaches of the ICC Code of Conduct during the third match of their ICC Women’s Championship series against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday.
Harmanpreet will miss India’s next two matches in the Asian Games as per this punishment.
Harmanpreet was fined 50 per cent of her match fee and three demerit points were added to her disciplinary record for a Level 2 offence after she was found guilty of breaching article 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision”.
Harmanpreet was also fined 25 per cent of her match fee for a Level 1 offence after she was found guilty of breaching article 2.7, which relates to “public criticism about an incident occurring in an international match.”
Nigar Sultana Reacts To Harmanpreet Kaur’s Outburst
The first incident occurred in the 34th over of India’s innings when Kaur hit the wickets with her bat in a show of dissent after she was adjudged caught at slip off spinner Nahida Akter. She was clearly unhappy with the decision as she felt the ball had come off her pad and expressed her frustration by smashing the stumps with her bat.
The other incident was during the presentation ceremony when Kaur criticized the umpiring in the match. Harmanpreet heavily criticised the umpires and termed their decision disappointing.
The Bangladesh team didn’t even get a picture clicked while sharing the trophy due to Harmanpreet Kaur’s behaviour. BAN skipper Nigar Sultana recently reacted to the controversial outburst.
“You are right in saying such things happen in sports, and it is not the first time. You are also right in saying that it happened in the heat of the moment. However, had it been restricted to the field of play, honestly speaking, I would not have felt bad about it or felt disappointed. I would have told my players that it was all in the intensity of the moment, and it is better that all of us moved on from it,” Nigar Sultana was quoted as saying by Revsportz.
“But what really disappointed me was that it was not restricted to the field of play. Let me tell you something. For my players too, Harmanpreet is a legend of the game. They too look up to her. And when they came and said to me that how can a legend of her stature do this to us, I felt sad and disappointed. That’s what has pained me the most,” she added.
“The very same umpires officiated in the T20 series, which India won. In fact, that too was a very close series and I feel we should have done better in the second game and won it, but we did not. But that is not the point here. The moot point is the very same umpires officiated in the T20 series as well.”
“There was not a single complaint from India. Is it because they had won the series? As players, you are always taught that the umpires’ decision is final and that we have to respect that. Let me also ask you this – had they won the final ODI, would they have raised the issue of umpiring or was it raised because they did not win the series, and they were disappointed and frustrated with the result?” concluded Sultana.