BCCI should sack Harmanpreet Kaur from Asian Games cricket squad

This is the time the BCCI bosses need to get firm and set a proper example.

BCCI should sack Harmanpreet Kaur from Asian Games cricket squad

Harmanpreet Kaur (Image Credits: Open Source/Fancode)

The brouhaha over Indian cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur‘s action(s), a disgraceful one that, against Bangladesh last week, brings into focus how leaders need to behave. With a two-match ban slapped on the 34-year-old cricketer, plus a 75 percent match fee being deducted, Harmanpreet has got away lightly.

That the senior cricketer behaved like a bully of club cricket fame deserves condemnation. After all, in an age when cricketers — men and women — are looked at as ambassadors of the nation, Harmanpreet showed poor judgment in many ways. The incident in the ODI against Bangladesh happened almost nine days ago, but it is still in the news.

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Just to jog the readers’ memory, Harmanpreet was adjudged out, caught at the slip. Nothing wrong with that, since the batter dismissed always thinks/ feels, he/she was victimized. In this case, Harmanpreet not only punched her bat with her gloves, she went on to smash the stumps. Such churlish behavior from a celebrated cricketer who had been bestowed the Arjuna Award by the Government of India is a reflection of arrogance and misplaced aura.

Worse, as if she was in the mood like a driver involved in road rage, Harmanpreet had the gall to tell the Bangladesh team to bring their umpires to the post-match awards presentation ceremony!

It was cheap; it was dirty. That former cricketers have come down on Harmanpreet like a ton of bricks is good. She has been condemned for her churlish, nay boorish behavior by former captains like Anjum Chopra, now a celebrated commentator and icon Mithali Raj. After all, whatever the provocation or anger, no cricketer has the right to behave in a manic way.

To be sure, the two-match ban on Harmanpreet Kaur and being docked 75 percent of the match fees is too mild. Even if she had been kept out for a few months, say three, it would have been just. The focus now comes to the Asian Games in Hangzhou, starting September 23. News of Harmanpreet Kaur having to miss the first few matches and then coming into play in the quarter-final stage is now trending news.

Also read: Did Suryakumar Yadav wear Sanju Samson’s jersey to STAGE PROTEST against Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid?

Time for BCCI to set a firm example out of indiscipline characters

Harmanpreet Kaur Roger Binny VVS Laxman
From left: President of BCCI – Roger Binny, Kaur, and Head of Cricket at NCA – VVS Laxman (Image Credits: IANS/user-generated content)

This is the time the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) bosses, Roger Binny, and Jay Shah, need to get firm. For Binny and NCA boss VVS Laxman, to have a chat with Harmanpreet will not suffice. The BCCI has to set a great example and leave Harmanpreet out of the Asian Games. Dump her guys, and name a replacement. India does not need a captain who is a wrong example. Punish her, for unless there is discipline in the side, many more can emulate Harmanpreet for the wrong reasons.

Discipline and Indian women’s cricket are alien to each other. History is replete with instances when the prima dona cricketers have managed to get coaches sacked. Be it someone like Purnima Rau, the former India captain who was later coach, the cricketers ganged up and got her sacked. They did the same to WV Raman and a few more guys. What it shows is that the Indian women cricketers, by nature, are arrogant. Coach Ramesh Powar also met the same fate, though news of Amol Muzumdar tipped to become the next coach is more or less confirmed.

The time has come when Indian women’s cricket needs discipline and character. And that is not going to come from sheer results produced. It comes from showing character and interacting with neighboring countries like Bangladesh with more maturity. The fact of the matter that India struggled against Bangladesh cannot be camouflaged.

Needless to say, the pot is still boiling. The BCCI must censure Harmanpreet and drop her from the Asian Games. India needs sporting brand ambassadors and medal winners in Hangzhou, China, at the Asian Games. Not athletes who are guilty of indiscipline.

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