Harmanpreet Kaur will continue as captain of the women’s team and lead the side at the upcoming Asian Games. Recently, India failed to make the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, and the future of the right-handed batter was under the spotlight after the Women in Blue failed to replicate the highs of the ODI World Cup win. However, on Tuesday morning, the Women’s Selection Committee ended all speculations by naming the experienced player as the captain of the women’s team for the all-important Asian Games.
The 2026 Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, in September 2026. The Indian women’s team will head into the competition as the defending champions, having won the gold medal in women’s cricket at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Smriti Mandhana will serve as Harman’s deputy, while Shreyanka Patil has also been named in the squad. However, her participation in the competition is subject to fitness clearance.
In the five matches she played in the Women’s T20 World Cup, Harmanpreet scored 141 runs, and her best performance came in the final Group A match against Australia, where she played a quickfire knock of 56. However, this knock wasn’t enough to help India win, and the Women in Blue crashed out of the tournament.
India started the Women’s T20 World Cup with a bang, registering wins over Pakistan and the Netherlands. However, the team was given a reality check after India went down against South Africa. Heading into the game against Australia, the equation was simple: win to qualify, or else be knocked out. And as fate would have it, the 50-over champions crashed out.
Harmanpreet’s future
After the loss to Australia, India head coach Amol Muzumdar was asked about Harmanpreet’s future, and he said he would like to see her continue as skipper.
“It’s up to the selectors to decide the captain. I think, yes, my short and sweet answer would be yes,” said Amol when asked whether he would like Harmanpreet to continue as the captain.
Before the Asian Games, India will also be playing a Test match against England at Lord’s Cricket Ground. The match is scheduled to begin on July 10.
India’s squad for the 2026 Asian Games: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-Captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), G. Kamalini (WK), Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil*, Radha Yadav, Nandni Sharma.
