Harmanpreet Kaur: A Look at the Top Controversies Surrounding the Indian Captain

 Harmanpreet Kaur: A Look at the Top Controversies Surrounding the Indian Captain

Harmanpreet Kaur has been in the spotlight for controversies since she became captain of the T20I side in 2016. The latest one happened when Harman got upset and hit the stumps with her bat after being given out LBW against Bangladesh. But even before this, the Indian captain has been involved in several other controversies.

Not too long ago, Harmanpreet Kaur supported her teammate Deepti Sharma. This was after Deepti ran out Charlie Dean from the England women's cricket team in a match in September 2022. Dean was going too far ahead from the crease. The partnership for the 10th wicket seemed unbreakable, and England needed 17 more runs to win in 39 balls. Deepti cleverly ran out the non-striker.

Many people criticized Kaur for not letting Dean continue to bat, saying it wasn't in the spirit of cricket. But the Indian captain supported her teammate and explained that everything was done according to the rules of cricket. India won all three matches of the ODI series.

Controversy with Mithali Raj: 

Controversy arose when Mithali Raj was left out of the playing 11. Harmanpreet became India’s T20I captain in November 2016 and led the team in the 2018 Women's T20 World Cup in West Indies. India made it to the semi-finals of the tournament.

Senior player and former captain Mithali Raj, who scored fifties against Pakistan and Ireland, was suddenly not included in the team to play against Australia. Instead, a fast-bowling all-rounder Arundhati Reddy was chosen.

After the World Cup, Mithali expressed her frustration against coach Ramesh Powar. Her manager Annisha Gupta criticized skipper Kaur in a tweet, but later deleted it. In the tweet, Gupta said, “Unfortunately @BCCIWomen 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.

Harmanpreet Kaur's Support for Powar and Clash with Mithali Raj

After a loss to England in the 2018 Women's T20 World Cup semi-final due to a batting failure, Harman expressed support for coach Powar and criticized Mithali.

Mithali was not part of the playing 11 once again in that match. After the World Cup, Mithali officially complained to the BCCI, wanting coach Powar to be removed. However, Harman and her vice-captain Smriti Mandhana reportedly wrote letters supporting the coach.

Harman even said in the media that if Powar was removed, Team India would have to start over. Former India cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar criticized her for these comments.

Alleged Fake Degree Leads to Demotion from DSP Rank in Punjab Police

Just before the Mithali Raj issue, Harmanpreet was involved in another controversy, not about cricket. After her outstanding performance in the 2017 Women’s ODI World Cup, where she scored 171 against Australia in the semi-final, Punjab-native Harmanpreet was given the honorary rank of DSP in Punjab Police as a reward for her achievements.

The then Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh, and then Railway Minister Piyush Goyal helped Harmanpreet transition from her job at Indian Railways to Punjab Police. However, just months after this good news, the Indian all-rounder faced a setback. She was reportedly demoted from the rank of DSP to Constable because of an alleged fake graduation degree from Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut.

Speaking to the Times of India to clear things up, Harman said, “When you did your graduation, did you go to the head office to verify your enrollment number? Nobody does that. I did exactly the same thing. If I am playing, my focus is obviously on cricket.

"I just wanted to finish my graduation. Based on my graduation certificate, I enrolled in a post-graduation course at a different university but couldn't take the exams due to overseas tournaments. Now, that same degree is being called fake."

I completed my graduation through distance learning from Chaudhary Charan Singh University in 2009-11. Initially, I started my graduation at a college in Jalandhar, where I completed the first year. After that, I couldn't continue because my cricket matches always clashed with exam dates. Also, when the college principal changed, they weren't supportive of my sports career and didn't adjust exam timings for my cricket schedule. So, I had to switch to another university. I've been playing for India since I finished Class XII," she further explained.

Harmanpreet Kaur: Breaking Stumps and Slamming Umpires

The recent controversy involves the Bangladesh women’s team. Both Bangladesh and Indian cricket teams (men's senior, U-19 Men’s A, and women’s senior) have had many controversies lately, and Harmanpreet's incident added to that.

An angry Harmanpreet broke the stumps with her bat after being given out LBW. She also criticized the umpires in her post-match speech, saying India would need to be prepared for such low umpiring standards when they visit Bangladesh next.

If the 34-year-old Indian captain had stopped there, it might have been fine. But during the post-match photo session, she reportedly shouted at the Bangladesh team to invite the umpires to share the trophy as well. This was seen as very disrespectful and lacking in manners by her counterpart Nigar Sultana Joty.

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