5 controversies involving Indian Women's Team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur

Indian Women’s Cricket Team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and controversies seem to go hand-in-hand. She is certainly a player who doesn’t mince her words or has any filters on the field. She is raw in emotions and highly motivated for getting results. Here are five controversies she has found herself in due to her raw and uncontrolled nature.

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Defending Deepti Sharma’s runout of Charlie Dean

Deepti Sharma's controversial runout (Source: Twitter)

In September 2022, India’s Deepti Sharma run out England’s Charlie Dean in a controversial dismissal. Dean was backing up far too much and Sharma took the chance to run her out. As such, when England needed 17 runs to win in 39 balls with two wickets in hand, Sharma ran out Charlie Dean with a non-striker’s run out in the ‘Mankad’ fashion. Following this, she was defended by her skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and many criticised the Indian skipper for not calling Dean back. People used the Spirit of the Game argument against Harmanpreet.

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Mithali Raj’s snub from the Playing XI

Mithali Raj with Harmanpreet (Source: Twitter)

After being appointed the captain of the Indian Women’s T20I team in 2016, Harmanpreet led India in the marquee 2018 Women’s T20 World Cup. Surprisingly former skipper and star batter Mithali Raj was absent from the playing XI in the league game against Australia despite smashing fifties against Pakistan and Ireland. Mithali later vented out her anger on coach Ramesh Powar while her manager Annisha Gupta slammed Harmanpreet in a tweet. She wrote, “Unfortunately India Women’s Team believes in politics, not sport. After witnessing what @M_Raj03 's experience could do in IndvIre it's shocking that they went with what pleases @ImHarmanpreet -a manipulative, lying, immature, undeserving captain,”

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Harmanpreet Kaur wrote in favour of Powar

Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana (Source: Twitter)

Following the fallout after the Women’s T20 World Cup of 2018, Mithali Raj lodged a formal complaint to the Indian Cricket Board and wanted Ramesh Powar out of the side. However, the skipper and vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana wrote letters in favour of the coach. She was criticised for her actions by former India cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar.

Demotion from DSP’s rank due to ‘fake degree’

Harmanpreet posted at DSP (Source: Twitter)

Before the fallout with Mithali Raj in 2018, Harmanpreet Kaur was given an honorary post of DSP in Punjab Police, based on her performances in the 2017 Women’s ODI World Cup. However, her sorrow would come to an end within a few months when she was demoted to the post of a constable on the grounds of producing a fake graduation certificate from Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut.

Smashing Stumps and misbehaving in the presentation ceremony, BAN W vs IND W 2023

IND vs BAN, Third ODI (Source: Twitter)

The most recent controversy was during the post-match presentation of the three-match ODI series of India Women’s tour of Bangladesh, 2023. In the third ODI, she was given out to a lbw appeal. The Indian skipper believed otherwise and smashed her wickets angrily with her bat. Later in the post-match presentation and trophy ceremony, she misbehaved which led the Bangladesh skipper Nigam Sultana to take her players back to the dressing room.