'They did not even look her in the eye' - James Anderson slams Deepti Sharma, India women's team

Charlotte Dean’s dismissal in the third and final ODI between India Women and England Women at Lord’s last week continues to ignite debates and discussions. Deepti ran a well-set Dean out for backing up at the non-striker’s end, completing a 16-run win and with it a 3-0 series sweep for the visitors.

There have been ranging remarks on the incident since, from players, experts and fans alike, and James Anderson continues to maintain his stance on the mode of dismissal.

The veteran England quick, at the time of the dismissal, had tweeted: “Will never understand why players feel the need to do this. Is she stealing the ground?”

In another tweet, he stated, in agreement with Sam Billings, “Spot on. No intention of bowling the ball.”

Will never understand why players feel the need to do this. Is she stealing ground? pic.twitter.com/KJi1Rgzmdi

— James Anderson (@jimmy9) September 24, 2022

Spot on. No intention of bowling the ball 🤬

— James Anderson (@jimmy9) September 24, 2022

When asked for his take on the subject on BBC’s Tailenders Podcast, Anderson had a straightforward response.

“Well, you know what? I thought, ‘I knew we were going to talk about this today’,” he said. “So, on the train, on the way down, I thought ‘right, I’m going to just get my thoughts together and try and eloquently lay my views out for everyone’. Within 30 seconds of thinking about it, I was fuming. It just infuriates me and I think it’s because I’ve been brought up in teams where we just wouldn’t even consider doing something like that. And yes, it’s in the laws of the game right now and they have obviously changed it so it’s now a run-out,” Anderson said on BBC’s Tailenders Podcast.

“I think now I really hope that players stay in their crease, just don’t give people the option of doing it. I feel so much for Charlie Dean because she got herself in a position where she could have possibly won the game for England. She managed the game situation brilliantly, I don’t think she was trying to steal a run, she just drifted and that is a natural thing for the batter to do, to walk along with the bowler.”

Anderson further pointed out that Deepti had it all pre-planned, and that she wasn’t keen on bowling the ball and was focused on running the batter out. He also remarked that there might’ve been a guilt among the Indian players on the dismissal, adding that it “left a bitter taste” for him.

“The issue for me was that Deepti was never thinking about bowling that ball. She was watching Charlie Dean the whole way and the moment she stepped out; she ran her out. That is what frustrates me about that dismissal. There has been a chat about giving warnings and the England camp talked about how there were no warnings. I don’t see it as a legitimate dismissal when I play cricket. Where is the skill in that? It is just a sneaky way of getting someone out, I do not like it.

“Charlie Dean was in tears, the handshake from the Indian team, there was no compassion there. They did not even look her in the eye, if there was guilt about the dismissal, then don’t do it then. India had won the series; it was not as if the series was on the line. It left a bitter taste for me, I don’t know. It is not about being me an England player, if I was watching the match between two neutral teams, I still would not have liked it,”

Anderson further believed that instead of ruling the batter out, it would be better off if the batting side are penalised runs after a warning if the non-striker backs up.

“I don’t think batters should go down the pitch when the ball has not even delivered, but I don’t think it should be a dismissal, there should be a warning or there can be penalty runs. That would be a better solution to it, just give them a couple of warnings,” said Anderson.