Harmanpreet should have been more selective with her words: Anjum

Harmanpreet Kaur became the talk of the town when the Indian skipper slammed the umpires for ‘poor decisions’ during the third ODI. Had Harmanpreet just left it to her words at the post-match presentation, there wouldn’t have been this big a cry, but the aftermath of the incident was quite bitter. 

The Indian skipper taunted the Bangladeshi team by insisting to bring the match umpires into the frame for a group photo. In a viral video, Harmanpreet was seen calling the umpires before the Bangladeshi team walked out to boycott the joint photo session. Former Indian skipper Anjum Chopra condemned the actions, stating that Harmanpreet should have been selective with her choice of words. 

“Bring the umpires too.”

“Why you are only here? You haven't tied the match. The umpires did it for you. Call them up! We better have photo with them as well.”

~ Harmanpreet Kaur pic.twitter.com/VRTEiswxRv

— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) July 23, 2023

“When the aggression goes away and she becomes calm I'm sure she would look back and agree that she needed to be more careful in showing her disagreement. There's no harm in voicing your displeasure, but it's how and when you do it. She should have been more selective with her choice of words too,” Anjum told in an interview with Hindustan Times.

Given the lack of technology, it was always known that there wasn’t going to be any Snickometer or ball-tracking in the series. Anjum insisted that it was wrong on Harmanpreet’s behalf to have come out scathing at the umpires. 

“There was no snickometer or ball-tracking, so it's a bit difficult to judge. But if they (the Indian team) felt a few decisions did not go their way, could things have been handled better? Why did it come down to the Indian captain going to the post-match presentation and voicing her displeasure? It could have been communicated in a better way,” she added.

“How did the situation scale up to this? The Indian team not playing up to the mark can be a cause of their disappointment but that could have been kept within the dressing room. Going out in public like this (was not proper).”

India did not adapt themselves well in the conditions, faltering the run-chase in the third ODI, and giving away a win in the first ODI, where they were unable to chase an underpar score from Bangladesh. 

"Yes, you expect pitches like these in Bangladesh this time of the year. It's the rainy season. So you know you will get slow, dry surfaces assisting spinners. But the Indian team wasn't prepared enough. In fact, Harman also agreed after the 2nd ODI that they were not prepared enough and did not adapt to the conditions."