Smriti Mandhana Fails vs Bangladesh; Fans Blame Umpires Over Controversial Decision

Fans blame umpires for Smriti Mandhana wicket [Source: screengrab]

Team India romped to a comfortable victory against Bangladesh Women in match number 23 of the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Chasing 137 runs in a must-win game at Old Trafford in Manchester, Shafali Verma got her side off to a flier with a blistering half-century at the top of the order.

Her opening partner and team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, on the other hand, would likely feel undone by what transpired in the game. The legendary opener was dismissed by Bangladesh’s Marufa Akter in the third over of the run chase. 

With Rabeya Khan taking a diving catch at cover, television replays indicated an extremely close call for the umpires. As it turned out, despite the high-stakes nature of the match and an exceptional diving effort by the Bangladeshi fielder, the third umpire declared the judgement after only accessing the dismissal from two different angles.

Fans blame England’s ‘replay facility’ for Smriti Mandhana

Indian opener Smriti Mandhana leaned into a drive against Bangladesh’s Marufa Akter at the end of the third over of the innings. However, the prolific left-handed batter found a diving Rabeya Khan at cover instead. 

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Rabeya completed a well-judged, yet a doubtful catch at the region, prompting the two on-field umpires to take the decision upstairs. Much to everyone’s surprise, the third umpire inspected the moment from just two different angles, thus drawing an ire from several Indian cricket fans on social media. 

The third umpire eventually declared Smriti Mandhana out, with many Indian fans believing that the opening batter should have been given the benefit of the doubt owing to the nature of the dismissal. The fans also questioned the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as well as the International Cricket Council (ICC) for perceived lack of replay angles on offer. 

Here is a look at some of the Indian fans expressing their reactions after the controversial dismissal of the Indian Women’s opener. 

Archer

@poserarcher

Such a huge tournament it's a world cup and you only have two angles to see the catch? And apart from that I would have loved smriti to be more consistent this is just plain sad

cosmicindian

@cosmicindian

T2O Women’s WC 2026 BAN vs IND Smriti Mandana was not at all out . The Bangladeshi fielder after catching allows the ball to touch the ground. Despite their poor display of replay ( I can’t believe England has such poor replay facility) one can see the ball touching the ground

Dr Ajay Gupta

@DrAjayNGupta

Smriti mandhana was not out. The fielder touched the ball to the ground before getting up #INDvsBAN

India crush Bangladesh by five wickets

Despite the Smriti Mandhana controversy, Team India crushed Bangladesh by five wickets in their must-win Group 1 match of the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at Old Trafford in Manchester. 

Indian bowlers Radha Yadav (3-28), Shree Charani (2-21) and Renuka Singh (1-21) restricted Bangladesh to just 136-8 from 20 overs after the latter won the toss and opted to bat first. 

In response, Indian opener Shafali Verma clattered 53 runs off just 34 balls, while captain Harmanpreet Kaur and all-rounder Deepti Sharma notched up the winning runs together to steer India past Bangladesh in just 16.5 overs.

India still in contention for semifinals

With three wins in four games, Team India is still in contention of qualifying for the semifinal of the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. However, the ‘Women in Blue’ need to defeat Australia in their impending final Group 1 fixture of the tournament.

The match will be hosted by the iconic Lord’s in London on June 28.

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