JU chancellor gives nod to proposal for honorary DLitt to Harmanpreet Kaur

The decks are being cleared for Jadavpur University to confer an honorary DLitt on Harmanpreet Kaur, the ICC Women’s World Cup winning captain, at the university's annual convocation on 24 December. West Bengal governor and JU chancellor C.V. Ananda Bose gave a verbal green signal to the proposal for invitees during a meeting with newly appointed vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharya on Wednesday.

Confirming the news, a senior JU official said the governor also gave a nod to the state-run university's suggestion to invite Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee as a special guest. The proposal, if cleared by the university’s apex body executive committee, will make Harmanpreet the first-ever sports personality to be honoured by the university. The India women’s team made history on 2 November when it beat South Africa to end the long drought for an ICC World Cup title in Navi Mumbai.

Names of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman Sameer V. Kamat and Anusandhan National Research Foundation CEO Shivkumar Kalyanaraman as proposed special guests were also okayed by Raj Bhavan, the official said. 

Sultana cautioned

Meanwhile, Bangladesh women’s captain Nigar Sultana’s cheeky jibe in taking Harmanpreet's name has not gone down well with Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) authorities. A storm had been brewing in Bangladesh cricket for some time over seamer Jahanara Alam’s allegations of sexual advances by one of their selectors and Sultana's physical assault on junior players. ‘’This is nothing new. Joty (Sultana) beats up the juniors a lot,’’ Alam told a Bangladesh daily.

Sultana has finally responded to the allegations, but with a reference to one of Harmanpreet’s meltdowns after a dismissal. ‘’Why would I hit anyone? I mean, why would I strike the stumps with my bat? Am I Harmanpreet, that I would go around hitting the stumps like that? Why would I do it? In my personal space, if I’m cooking or something, I might bang my bat around, I might hit my helmet — that’s my own business,’’ Sultana said in an interview with Daily Cricket.

However, informed sources said BCB has cautioned its women’s captain for referring to one player in particular and asked her to exercise caution.

India tour postponed

Speaking of Bangladesh, a planned tour of India by the women’s team to play a series of three ODIs and three T20Is in December has been postponed. A BCB spokesperson confirmed the news, saying the board has received a letter from the BCCI saying the white-ball series will be scheduled at a later date.

The series, part of the ICC’s Future Tours programme, was meant to be India’s last set of games before the start of the next edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) and the only series between its triumphant ODI World Cup campaign and the WPL. The matches were expected to be played in Kolkata and Cuttack, with the ODIs kicking off the new cycle of the Women’s ODI Championship for both sides.