The last of the three ODIs between the Indian women and their English counterparts was an emotional one for the Indian side, as Jhulan Goswami hung up her boots, bidding adieu to a career that spanned over 20 years. She is the highest wicket-taker in the women’s game, with 255 scalps to her name, more than 60 wickets ahead of her closest competitor.
However, the conclusion of the game seemed to overshadow Goswami’s retirement, clouding the atmosphere, which ideally should have been focused on the Indian legend’s glittering career. England were nine wickets down chasing India’s total of 169, needing 17 more runs to take the series.
Charlie Dean, who was batting on 47, was England’s last hope as she stitched together a 35-run partnership with No.11 batter Freya Davies before Deepti ran Dean out in her bowling stride to wrap up the game for the Indians. Dean was seen backing up far ahead of the popping crease and was incidentally ran out, as per the laws of the game.
Nevertheless, this incident did not go down well with the English fanbase, who called the action ‘unsportsmanlike’ and ‘against the spirit of the game’. There was a huge uproar, as Nasser Hussain on commentary called it a disgraceful end to a brilliant game of cricket.
English fans made the argument that the form of dismissal Sharma employed ‘required no skill whatsoever’. In response, those in support of Sharma’s actions pointed out that in addition to being completely within the laws of the game, not running Dean out would have given her a significant advantage, a fact further corroborated by video evidence.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur refused to entertain any questions about the dismissal and stood firmly in favour of her players, saying that the Indians should not be questioned about something that is in the rulebook. Kaur added that it was an insult to focus on one dismissal rather than the entire performance.
Discussions surrounding the incident did not seem to end even days after the event, as social media was rife with opinions and analyses of the dismissal. Although many voices from around the world were of the opinion that the Indians were not required to justify their actions in any way, the players were quizzed about it upon their arrival in India.
When asked about the incident, Deepti said that the Indian side had warned Dean multiple times before effecting the dismissal and had also spoken to the umpires about it. She revealed that it was only after repeated warnings that she went ahead with that particular mode of dismissal.
“We had warned her many times before, as she was seen leaving the crease on multiple occasions. We even spoke to the umpires about it. We gave her multiple warnings, and only then went ahead with the dismissal. We did not need to warn her. That form of dismissal is perfectly legal and I don’t see why it should become this big of an issue.”
Sharma said.
Goswami also had a lot to say regarding the matter, which she expressed in an interview after her last game.
“She (Deepti Sharma) has not done anything wrong. Has she done anything illegal? This (form of dismissal) is well within the laws of the game. And also, it was not a question of millimetres, she (Dean) was ahead by a huge margin.
If someone is taking undue advantage, we were well within our rights to do what we did. We did everything within the law, and I don’t think there should be any further discussion on the matter.”
