Harmanpreet Kaur received harsh criticism for her behavior in India women vs Bangladesh women third ODI match in Dhaka. It's not unusual for players to voice their disagreement with umpires' decisions while playing, but Harmanpreet Kaur's actions during the third ODI against Bangladesh that ended in a tie were rather out of bounds. The Indian captain's antics has become a heated topic of discussion in the cricketing community. The India captain is facing immense heat for her act of shattering the stumps with her bat after being given out for calling the umpires 'biased and unfair' throughout the series.
Even former India women's cricket team captain Diana Edulji criticized Harmanpreet's behavior, speculating that she may have lost her composure because to her subpar batting technique.
Edulji wrote in her editorial for Indian Express that Harmanpreet's behavior set a poor example for her teammates.
“Cricketers reacting to a bad umpiring decision, though not ideal, is nothing new. To a certain extent, one can be pardoned since when you get out in a crunch match, sometimes it is difficult to control the emotions. Harmanpreet isn't the first cricketer to show dissent and the ICC rightly imposed sanctions on her. I understand wrong decisions were made. We have seen wrong decisions in the past too, not only in women's cricket but in men's cricket too," Edulji wrote.
“However, what happened post-game was not needed, all the more because Harmanpreet is the Indian captain. She has set a bad example for her teammates. I say that because juniors look up to seniors and this, over a period of time, can impact the team culture. This makes Harmanpreet's behaviour all the more unacceptable," said Edulji, a former cricketer who represented India in 20 Test matches and 34 ODIs.
Edulji referred to Harmpreet's action as "deplorable" for asking umpires to participate in a photo shoot with Indian and Bangladeshi players, implying that they were also members of the home team. The veteran felt that Harmanpreet crossed all the limits by far.
“It was deplorable to see Harmanpreet call the umpires to pose with the Bangladesh team, suggesting that they were part of the team and playing for them. I am aware that Harman is hot-tempered, and maybe her ugly conduct was because she wasn't able to score runs. But she crossed the limit that day as she continued to protest during the presentation ceremony," said Edulji.