Nine months after Harmanpreet Kaur had slammed the standard of umpiring during their last tour of Bangladesh, the Indian women’s team is set to tour the country for a five-match T20I series, starting April 28, with Sylhet to host all the matches.
The three night games will be played in the main stadium, and the two day games will be held at the outer venue. The night games will start at 6.30pm local time and day games at 2pm.
The series could be a good preparation for the Indian team ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will also be played in Bangladesh, in September-October.
This is India’s second tour of Bangladesh in two years, and their third overall. In 2023, they had played three T20Is and as many ODIs. They won the T20I series 2-1, while the ODI series was tied 1-1.
The previous tour had ended on a sour note, with India captain Harmanpreet Kaur criticising the umpires after the third ODI, which was tied. India’s frustration was at an all-time high when Harmanpreet hit the stumps with her bat after being deemed caught out when the ball seemed to have gone off her pads.
Later, the India skipper termed the umpiring “pathetic” at the post-match presentation.
“The next time whenever we are coming to Bangladesh, we’ll have to make sure we have to deal with this kind of umpiring and accordingly, we’ll have to prepare ourselves,” she had said. For her outburst, she was penalised with a two-match ban by the ICC.
Smriti Mandhana, India’s vice-captain, had also hoped for neutral umpires for the next tour.
The Indian team will arrive in Bangladesh on April 23 and return home on May 10.