“Noticing From Last Couple Of Games,” says Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur in reference to Deepti Sharma’s Run-Out against England

Charlie Dean was run out at the non-end striker’s in the third and final ODI between the ladies of India and England when she strayed too far outside the crease even though Deepti Sharma had not yet delivered the ball. After that, the “spirit of cricket” controversy flared up once more, and commentators and fans are still debating this specific method of dismissal. Deepti claimed that Team India warned Dean when they got to India, but when they saw that she was continually slipping out of her crease, they decided to run her out.

Heather Knight, the captain of England, who was injured and missed the series, stated on Twitter that Team India did not issue any warnings and that they should not be “lying.” In light of this, it was very obvious that Harmanpreet would be questioned about it prior to the Women’s T20 Asia Cup. The captain of India provided a succinct response to the queries posed about this method of termination. “See, we were noticing these things from the last couple of games. She was taking a long stride, she was taking undue advantage. I think it was Deepti’s awareness, she was noticing it and we were discussing it,” said Harmanpreet while replying to an question during a virtual press conference.

“But it wasn’t in our plans to get her out like that. Everybody was there to win the game. Whenever you are on the ground, you just want to win at any cost. What’s most important is that you have to play within the rules. Whatever we have done, it is within the rules. Whatever happened, has happened,” she said. In response to a different query addressing the significance of the series victory, particularly in light of events at Lord’s Cricket Ground, Harmanpreet replied, “Everything was planned for this series, we were working on something. When we went to England, we did not think that we are here to create any history. When you have the plans, and you are working towards something, the results will come automatically.”

The Marylebone Cricket Club, the guardians of cricket’s laws, had also released a statement outlining their position on the matter. The MCC changed the form of dismissal earlier this year from the “unfair play” section of their statutes to the “run out” section, and the ICC is scheduled to follow suit as of October 1. “MCC this year announced amendments to the laws of cricket to move being run out at the non-striker’s end, from law 41 unfair play, to law 38 run out,” the statement stated. After Deepti run-out Charlie Dean, it was further confirmed that the onus was on the batters to remain in their crease.