Team India to move on from Harmanpreet Kaur as T20I captain

Harmanpreet Kaur could be on her way out of Team India Women’s T20I captaincy. The Women in Blue suffered another embarrassing international campaign at the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. India could only manage 2 victories and 2 defeats from 4 group stage games to crash out of the competition.

Fan disapproval of the team’s performance has now heaped pressure on BCCI officials to act. Sources claim Harmanpreet Kaur could lose her captaincy after the female national team looked disjointed throughout the campaign under her watch.

“Go For a Young Captain” – Raj Urges the BCCI

Mithali Raj represented India’s female team across formats until her retirement. The retired batter shared her opinion on several points during a recent interview after the team’s embarrassing exit. She first commented on India’s selectors going for a new captain:  

“If the selectors decide to change, I would go for a young captain,” she said during the interview. “This is the time [to name a new captain]; if you delay more then we have another [One-Day International] World Cup on the horizon [in October 2025]. If you are not doing it now, then don’t do it later. Then it is too close to the World Cup.”

Raj went further to name likely successors to Kaur if the BCCI selectors decide to remove her as T20I captain:

“Smriti [Mandhana, India Women vice-captain] is there but I think someone like Jemimah [Rodrigues], she’s 24, she’s young, she will serve you more. And [Jemimah] is someone who I feel on the field gets that energy. She speaks to everybody. I was very impressed by her in this tournament.”

“Not Quick to Adjust” – Raj Faults India Women’s Wicket-Taking Abilities

Raj believes India’s female cricket team fail to adjust quickly to changing field situations, and it cost them during this tournament:

“Surprisingly, we took time to adjust to the slowness of the wicket,” she said during the interview. “Unlike an ODI World Cup, it is a short tournament, you don’t have a lot of time to adjust to the conditions. Someone like [New Zealand Women captain] Sophie Devine was able to score that many runs [57 n/out] against us and she is not used to playing on slow tracks. We were not quick enough to adjust.”

“No Growth in the Last Two to Three Years” – Raj Targets “Saturated” Team

Raj feels the current India team needs a lot of depth from their current status:

“I feel that in the last two-three years, I’ve not really seen any growth in this team,” she said. “In the sense, like, I mean, beating the best side is what you always prepare for, but it seems like we are saturated in the sense we are beating other teams, and we are pretty happy in that. Every other team has shown growth despite limited depth, a case in point being South Africa. We have not.”

Insider Claims “Time for Transition” Looming for India Women Captaincy

“The BCCI will certainly discuss whether to have a new captain on board going ahead. The Indian board has provided everything which the team wanted and we feel it’s high time a new face leads the team going ahead. Harmanpreet will continue to be an important member of the team but the BCCI feels it’s time for transition,” the insider concluded.

Harmanpreet Kaur Individual Format Records So Far

Kaur may be under fire for India’s poor outing at the female T20 World Cup; however, she’s been a top player for several years. She has been on the record books for several years as an experienced performer across formats. See some of her top records in all three formats below as of October 20, 2024.