Buckle up Ladies and Gentlemen, we are in for the second part of the infamous rivalry between Bangladesh and India. Marred by some controversies in the third and final ODI bilateral series between the two sides mid-this year, things later got heated during the press conference as well as in the post-series Trophy celebration session.
In the third ODI, the Indian captain was adjudged caught out by the umpire off the bowling of Nahida Akter, the umpire raised his finger as quickly as possible. Harmanpreet Kaur was absolutely furious with the decision, she even went on to smash the stumps with her bat. While walking towards the dug-out she was seen saying something to the umpires.
All this didn’t stop here, in the post-match presentation Harmanpreet criticized the umpires saying the kind of umpiring that happened in the series was quite surprising. She even went ahead and said that the next time they come to Bangladesh the team will make sure that they are prepared for this kind of umpiring.
The match was tied as India got all-out for 225 while chasing 226. Even the series got tied as Bangladesh had won the 1st ODI while the visitors won the 2nd ODI. There was nothing much to separate the two sides in the ODI series.
Hence both the teams shared the trophy. In the trophy celebration photo session, Harmanpreet taunted the Bangladesh side saying to bring the umpires too for the photo session. This comment was not deemed well by the Bangladesh skipper, as she made her team walk out from the photo session. She was disappointed by the opposition skipper’s comments.
A few days later, ICC decided to suspend Harmanpreet Kaur for 2 international games as she was found guilty of breaching level 2 of ICC’s Code of Conduct. Unfortunately for the Indian Skipper, these 2 matches were going to be in the Asian Games.
Harmanpreet missed India’s rain-curtailed quarter-finals owing to the suspension, she also has to sit out India’s next game, which will be the semi-finals of the event against none other than Bangladesh.
While talking to the press before the much-awaited semi-finals, Harmanpreet Kaur affirmed that everyone should move forward and not think about what had happened just 2 months back. She said, “What happened has happened, and I think we should move forward.”
Bangladesh Skipper Nigar Sultana Joty was of the same opinion too, as she said, “No (when asked if the team will have extra pressure due to the past incidents), we will treat it as just another match. It would have been preferable to play today, but we have recent experience playing against them [India], having won the previous time we faced them.”
If the rain plays a spoilsport on the 24th of September when the two sides face for the first time since the controversial match, India will advance to the Finals of the tournament, thanks to their superior ICC Ranking.
Source credits: The Daily Star
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