'I don't think she said anything about them' - Smriti Mandhana opens up on Harmanpreet Kaur's remarks against Bangladesh players

The third and final ODI between India women and Bangladesh women at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, in Mirpur, on July 22 (Saturday), witnessed a number of dramatic instances. The match ended in a thrilling tie, with both teams sharing the trophy.

After being dismissed, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur smashed her stumps and questioned the umpire's decision. The drama, however, did not end there, as Kaur reportedly insulted Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana by asking her to call umpires for a post-match photo. Meanwhile, Nigar refused to stay with the Indian skipper for the photo session and instead decided to head to the dressing room with her teammates.

Meanwhile, India opener Smriti Mandhana was questioned about the post-match drama, including the reported incident in which Harmanpreet is believed to have summoned the umpire for the photograph. Mandhana defended the India captain, claiming that while a few words were exchanged concerning the decisions of the umpires, however, nothing was said for the Bangladesh captain or the whole squad either.

"I don't think (she said this). You have stated it. I don't think she said anything towards the Bangladesh captain. From whatever I heard, think talked a bit about umpiring. I don't think she said anything about them (the Bangladesh players)," Mandhana said during the press conference.

Watch the video of the incident here:

Bangladesh-W captain & her team left the photo session after Indian-W captain Harmanpreet Kaur told them,
-“Why you are only here? You haven't tied the match. The umpires did it for you. Call them up! We better have photo with them as well.”

BCB to notify BCCI & ICC soon. pic.twitter.com/PnyEQxoYuC

— SazzaDul Islam (@iam_sazzad) July 23, 2023

We should not talk about things which did not happen during the match: Mandhana 

Smriti Mandhana went on to say that she could not talk about anything that didn't happen on camera or after the award ceremony.

"We should not talk about things which did not happen during the match. In the post-match things were not on camera, that is something which happened after the post-match presentation, so let's not talk about it," the 27-year-old added.

Furthermore, Harmanpreet, who destroyed her stumps after getting dismissed, is likely to get fined 75% of her match fee along with three demerit points by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for her unsportsmanlike behaviour.