An ex-Indian captain claims that while responding to poor umpiring was not ideal, it was acceptable, and that the post-game events were unnecessary.
The images from the tie-breaking women’s match between India and Bangladesh on Saturday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka have deeply troubled me. I’ve been watching cricket for a long time, but I’ve never seen an Indian captain behave that poorly following a game. Bangladeshi events were uncalled for.
Even if it’s not ideal, cricket players’ reactions to poor umpiring decisions are nothing new. One can be excused up to a point because it can be hard to manage your emotions when you’re in a tight situation. Harmanpreet is hardly the first cricketer to express disapproval, and the ICC was right to punish her. I acknowledge that poor choices were made. In the past, we have witnessed poor decisions in both men’s and women’s cricket.
But given that Harmanpreet is the Indian captain, what happened after the game was unnecessary. For her teammates, she has set a poor example. I say that because juniors look up to seniors, and over time, this can have an impact on the culture of the team. This makes Harmanpreet’s actions even more deplorable.
It was disgusting to witness Harmanpreet ask the umpires to take pictures with the Bangladesh squad, giving the impression that they were teammates who played for them. I am aware of Harman’s anger, so perhaps her rude behaviour was motivated by her inability to score runs. But on that particular day, she went too far since she persisted in objecting while the presentation was being made.
The team’s underperformance in comparison to expectations is more concerning. The BCCI is doing everything it can to help them. The issue is that these players are not paying attention to their cricket and are acting like celebrities. It is imperative that the BCCI act now. Such conduct is not acceptable.
The Indian board must make sure that the women’s squad has a permanent coaching staff in the meanwhile. Intervention is required immediately, and impromptu appointments should end. Since there hasn’t been a coach in six months, we need to find a solution before the Asian Games.
Why is the recruiting of support employees taking so long? Ad-hoc coaches are unable to comprehend a team. Since they are aware that the players will only be present for a short time, they are not concerned about them. These females need to get serious, thus we need full-time support personnel.
At the same time, BCCI needs to make some serious decisions because there is now no accountability. Players must understand that the Indian board would take action if they cross the line. We watched Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma bowling during the series; who are the other bowlers?
Fortunately, they took wickets, but because of their bowling, they were not chosen. Looking at the situation, it appears like the team is trying to secure Shafali’s position by having her bowl because she isn’t scoring.
The pacers have vanished. Shikha Pandey was chosen by the selectors but has since been dropped. For the Asian Games, Pooja Vastrakar has been retained in the reserves. Is that situation problematic in any way? I hope the BCCI meets with the squad and grills them with difficult questions. What went wrong and why must be explained. Accountability issues must be resolved for all parties, including players, selectors, and coaches.
There has been a report that selectors did not choose Richa Ghosh because she failed a fitness test, but looking at this team, there could easily be more players who would have failed the test but are still in the team. In my opinion, the team should also have a proper fitness roadmap. They can even go for rigorous army training.
The BCCI is providing them with all they need, including excellent salary and facilities, therefore it’s high time they hired a psychologist to determine why these females falter under pressure. What prevented us from doing effectively against a team like Bangladesh? If we play ‘major’ teams like England and Australia, what will happen?
