“I don’t regret anything, I just said what I felt and saw and witnessed.” Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur isn’t in the mood for contrition.
Kaur was banned for two international matches after smashing the stumps with her bat following a contentious dismissal in the recent ODI series with Bangladesh, before remonstrating with the umpire and later criticising the level of umpiring during the post-match presentation.
Quizzed by The Cricket Paper about the incident last month, Kaur becomes visibly irritated while maintaining a total belief in the appropriateness of her behaviour.
With her ban amid came almost universal condemnation of her reaction to being dismissed in the third ODI in Dhaka, and then added to her chargesheet by accusing the umpires of bias. Her bizarre rant included criticism for the absence of the Indian High Commissioner from the presentation party.
Kaur, however, remains defiant that she did nothing wrong. “I will not say that I regret anything because at the end of the day as a player you want to see that fair things are happening. As a player you always have the right to express yourself and what you’re feeling,” she told TCP.
“I don’t think I said anything wrong to any player or any person. I just said what happened on the field. I don’t regret anything.”
Kaur’s doubling down should cause dismay among cricket authorities and the organisers of the Hundred, where the 34-yearold is representing Trent Rockets. One of the Hundred’s key aims is to attract a new young audience to cricket, and the need for good role models is fundamental.
Asked if she considers herself to be a good role model, Kaur categorically says “yes, definitely”, with no trace of self-doubt or understanding of how her conduct might affect this view.
The right-handed batter became the first Indian woman to be selected as one of the five Wisden players of the year after leading her side to a rare ODI series victory in England last summer, her magnificent 143 off 111 at Canterbury the standout.
Kaur’s start to the competition has been underwhelming, a subdued 22 not out off 23 balls, in a heavy defeat against Welsh Fire her best score in the first four matches of the campaign.
In sharp contrast, the Indian vicecaptain and Kaur’s heir apparent, Smriti Mandhana, has enjoyed a run glut for Southern Brave.
After six innings she was averaging 45 at a healthy strike rate of 137.
Kaur says: “I’m very happy that there are four of us here [Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh are the others], we’re definitely going to learn a lot of things from the Hundred. It’s great fun to play against each other; you end up learning a lot. When we go back we can talk about our strengths and areas to improve.”
Asked to explain the attraction of the Hundred, it’s the quirkiness of the format itself which Kaur highlights.
“In 100 balls you have to bring your best, especially in the bowling department as they are only getting 20 balls,” she adds. “Bowling 10 balls from one end is totally different to any other format, so it’s something that’s very exciting. As a cricketer you want to experience new things.”
By a twist of fate, the next major event in the women’s international calendar, the T20 World Cup, is due to take place in Bangladesh next year. Kaur says that she is “definitely” looking forward to going back to Bangladesh but neatly sidesteps the potential issue of a hostile reception from the home fans.
Instead, she prefers to focus on the familiarity of the conditions that are likely to be encountered. “The pitches are a bit similar to Indian wickets, we’ve grown up playing on those types of wickets and we can plan accordingly.,” she says.
“We have enough time to prepare ourselves mentally and physically. The World Cup is an important tournament for any country and we just want to improve ourselves in areas where we have been lacking, especially in fitness and fielding”.
Being presented the World Cup trophy in Dhaka stadium, in a year’s time, could be one of the defining moments in Kaur’s storied career. But winning the hearts of cricket fans around the globe might take longer.
