India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur backed her players, especially Deepti Sharma, saying that her side had committed 'no crime' as the Women in Blue completed their first-ever ODI whitewash on English soil with a debatable runout. The incident saw Deepti Sharma hand England a bitter defeat as the spinner was responsible for dismissing batter Charlie Dean sparking controversy.
The wicket gave India a 16-run win over the hosts as England were bundled out for 153 in 43.3 overs while chasing a modest total of 170.
Responding to the many questions regarding the contentious moment, Harmanpreet said that her team has not committed a crime and it was part of the game. "Today whatever we have done I don't think it was any crime. It is part of the game and it is an ICC rule and I think we just need to back our player. I'm actually very happy she was aware of that, and the batter she is taking too long a stride I think. I don't think she has done something wrong and we just need to back her," Harmanpreet said at the post-match press conference.
But the skipper, who was also the Player of the Series, disagreed that the controversy took the sheen off the legendary Jhulan Goswami's farewell game. "I don't think so, because, as I said, I don't think we have done any crime. I don't think we need to talk about that because the first nine wickets were also very important and everybody was working so hard.
"It was a chaseable total but the way our bowlers bowled and the whole team putting in the effort, there were a lot of things to celebrate other than just talking about the last wicket." Harmanpreet was annoyed with the line of questioning at the presentation ceremony, when the presenter kept harping on the run-out, instead of the Indian team's historic series triumph that was built on the back of a terrific all-round display.
"Well, to be honest, I thought you will ask about the nine wickets which were not easy to take as well. It's part of the game. I don't think we have done something new. It shows your awareness, what batters are doing," Harmanpreet said.
"I will back my players, she hasn't done something outside the rules. After the first game we discussed, we wanted to do really well, we have that much potential. We want to continue this kind of cricket."
