Indian women’s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur banned for two matches
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday banned Indian women’s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur for two matches for her unsportsmanlike behavior during the third ODI against Bangladesh. This punishment was given to Harmanpreet for her indecent behavior in Dhaka last week. He vented his anger at the stumps after being adjudged lbw, and then publicly criticized the match officials. The ICC said in a statement, “Harmanpreet Kaur has been suspended from the next two international matches for two breaches of the ICC Code of Conduct.” Due to this suspension, Harmanpreet will not be able to play in the first two matches of the Asian Games to be held in September-October.
Harmanpreet was given out lbw off Nahida Akhtar but claimed that the ball had hit the bottom of her bat. Before returning to the pavilion, he took out his anger on the stumps. After this, he criticized the umpires in the prize distribution ceremony and even said that the umpires should attend the trophy ceremony with both the teams. Due to his rude behaviour, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana left the place along with her team and advised the Indian captain to learn manners. Harmanpreet was also fined 50 per cent of her match fee for protesting against the umpire’s decision. This is a level 2 offense.
In addition, he was fined 25 per cent of his match fee for a Level 1 offense of publicly criticizing the umpires. “Harmanpreet was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for a Level 2 offence, and three demerit points were added to his disciplinary record,” the ICC said in a statement. According to it, “he was found guilty of breaching Article 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct relating to Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to expressing dissent at an umpire’s decision.” The Indian captain accepted his offense and the punishment. The punishment was offered to him by ICC’s international panel match referee Akhtar Ahmed. Due to Harmanpreet’s acceptance of the sentence, the matter did not require further hearing. For a Level 2 offence, the player is fined 50 to 100 per cent of his match fee and three demerit points are added to his account.
The minimum punishment for a Level 1 offense is an official reprimand and the maximum punishment is a fine of 50 per cent of the match fee plus one or two demerit points. The ICC said, “In Harmanpreet’s case, four demerit points means two suspension points, due to which the player is banned for one Test match or two ODIs or two T20 matches.” Rangaswamy told PTI, “His behavior was condemnable. If he was confined to getting out then it would have gone but he also did not behave well in the prize distribution function which was not good for the game. She had gone beyond limits.
