NEW DELHI: India’s women’s cricket captain Harm­anpreet Kaur was banned for two matches by the game’s apex body Tues­day for her verbal swipe at umpires and on-field behaviour against Bangladesh.

Kaur was also fined 75 per cent of her match fee by the International Cric­ket Council (ICC).

She admitted “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision” and “public criticism in relation to an incident occu­­rring in an internatio­nal match”, the ICC said in a statement, adding that she accepted her punishment.

The 34-year-old also rec­e­ived three demerit points on her disciplinary record after she expressed frustration over her dismissal by hitting the wickets with her bat during the third match of the Women’s Champio­nship series against Bangl­adesh in Dhaka last week.

She was heard telling her Bangladeshi counterpart Nigar Sultana to invite the umpires

on stage after the post-match presentation, forcing the Bangla­desh players to opt out of a joint photo session.

Kaur is one of the biggest stars in the women’s game in India, which launched a women’s equivalent of the money-spinning Indian Pre­m­ier League earlier this year.

The 34-year-old is seen as an aggressive leader and dependable batter, and captained the Mumbai Indians to victory in the inaugural edition of the T20 tournament.

“I have been watching cricket for a long time, but have never seen anyone behave that way,” former women’s captain Diana Ed­u­l­ji wrote in her column in the Indian Express on Tuesday. “She has set a bad example for her team-ma­t­es,” Edulji said.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2023