Indian captain whacks stumps, slams ‘pathetic umpiring in extraordinary meltdown

India’s superstar captain has had a meltdown for the ages, demolishing her own stumps and slamming the umpiring as “pathetic”.

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur has come under fire after an extraordinary reaction to her dismissal against Bangladesh in the final match of their three-match ODI series.

Miscuing a sweep off the bowling of Nahida Akter, the ball popped up in the air and was caught by the grateful Fahima Khatun, sending Kaur packing for just 14 in India’s chase of 225.

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Kaur proceeded to hit her bat in frustration, as if to indicate that she’d hit the ball (seemingly thinking that she had been given out LBW), and then turned around to give her stumps an almighty whack, in wild scenes that shocked viewers and commentators alike.

Harmanpreet Kaur is one of India’s biggest stars. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)

She then proceeded to give umpires Muhammad Kamruzzaman and Tanvir Ahmed an almighty spray in the post-match interview, calling it a lesson learned.

“A lot of learning from this game,” Kaur said.

“Even apart from the cricket, the type of umpiring that was happening there, we were very surprised.

“The next time whenever we are coming to Bangladesh, we’ll have to make sure we have to deal with this kind of umpiring and accordingly, we’ll have to prepare ourselves.

“They (Bangladesh) batted really well, batted according to the situation. They were taking those singles which were very crucial.

“In between, we leaked a few runs but when we were batting, we controlled the game very well.

“But, as I mentioned earlier, some pathetic umpiring was done, and we are really disappointed about some decisions given by the umpires.”

Kaur wasn’t the only Indian player to blow up at the umpiring, with batter Yastika Bhatia also standing her ground after being given out LBW.

The match extraordinarily ended in a tie, with the series levelled at 1-1 and the sides sharing the honours.

Harmanpreet Kaur smashes the stumps in anger after being dismissed against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana was scathing in her response, calling it “totally (Kaur’s) problem.”

“It is totally her problem. I have nothing to do with it,” Sultana said.

“As a player, she could have shown better manners. I can‘t tell you what happened, but it didn’t feel right to be there (for the photograph) with my team.

“It wasn‘t the right environment. That’s why we went back. Cricket is a game of discipline and respect.”

“The umpires wouldn‘t give her out if she wasn’t out. We had umpires from men’s international cricket, so they were good umpires.

“What are they going to say about the caught or run-out dismissals? We have respected their decisions. The umpire‘s decision is the final decision, whether I like it or not. Why didn’t we behave in that way?”

That moment from Harmanpreet Kaur 🔥☄️#BANvIND#CricketTwitter

pic.twitter.com/d4kRIwNlX9

— Women’s CricZone (@WomensCricZone) July 22, 2023

Indian Captain Harmanpreet Kaur blasts Bangladesh Cricket board, calls the umpiring and management pathetic.

She also exposed the board for insulting the members of the Indian high commission by not inviting them on the stage.

Sherni standing up for 🇮🇳 without any fear. pic.twitter.com/HNHXB3TvdW

— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRaii) July 22, 2023

India’s vice-captain, Smriti Mandhana, was tight-lipped when asked about Kaur after the match.

“What happened in the middle is part and parcel of the game,” Mandhana said.

“We have seen these incidents in the past as well when we see the men’s game. I think when you play for India, you want to win and it happens in the heat of the moment.

“She wasn’t really happy with the decision given, she felt she wasn’t out and that came out, but yeah, feel (like) it is just heat of the moment.”

However, asked whether she thought the behaviour was acceptable, Mandhana admitted it wasn’t in the spirit of the game.

“When you want to win so badly, I am sure in the spirit of the game and all other things, definitely we can talk about it later, but I think just knowing Harman as a person and knowing how much she wants to win for India, and sure, from the spirit of the game I wouldn’t say that is (acceptable), but yeah, when you really want that W on the board for India, these things happen,” she said.