Dubai: Even as there are indications of improvement of ties between the two countries, Bangladesh women’s cricket team captain Nigar Sultana stoked controversy by refusing to shake hands with Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.
The two sides met for the semi-finals of the ongoing Women’s Cricket T20I Asia Cup in Dubai on Thursday.
Relations between Harmanpreet and Sultana are strained since the ODI series between the two sides in Bangladesh in 2023.
The Indian captain had slammed the umpiring after being given out LBW during the series decider. She had smashed the stumps before walking off the field.
It later came to be known that after the series ended in a tie, Harmanpreet called for the umpires to join the players for an end-of-series photograph ceremony – indicating that they were biased towards the home team. In response to that, Sultana had marched her players back to the dressing room, as reported by News18.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has said that it had nothing to do with Sultana’s decision to not shake hands with Harmanpreet.
“Of course, it was her own decision (to not shake hands with Harmanpreet),” Rafiqul Islam Babu, BCB’s women’s committee chairman was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
“We believe sports bring the world together. We want friendly relations with all countries, not just India, and so whatever she did was entirely her personal decision,” he said.
Bangladesh lost Tuesday’s match to India by 40 runs, and the BCB will review Sultana’s role as captain amid their results and allegations of misconduct.
“We have discussed the thing (performance and complaint) in total with the board president, and since they are in Asian Games, we will assess the situation after the conclusion of the games,” Babu said.
“There are many shortcomings in the team. We have not been able to beat the bigger teams. We played well in the World Cup too but lost because of small mistakes. We are working to make the team stronger and more competitive. After the Asian Games, we will decide what can be done,” he added.