One of India’s longest-serving women’s team captains, Harmanpreet Kaur, on Tuesday, stepped down as the all-format skipper, saying that her duty was done and that she can go back to playing the sport for the love of the game again.
The announcement came after a BCCI review meeting in Guwahati, where the women’s team’s trajectory over the last few months was evaluated. The meeting was attended by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, and head coach Amol Muzumdar.
It was back in 2012, in an Asia Cup match against Pakistan in Guangzhou, when she first led the Indian team, in the T20 format. She officially took over the role in the format in 2016, and was elevated to a full-time ODI leadership role in 2022 after the retirement of Mithali Raj, before becoming the all-format leader in 2023.
“Today, I step down as captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team across all formats,” she posted on her Instagram account.
“This is not an easy decision. It carries years of memories, emotions, sacrifices, and moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life,” Harmanpreet said in a lengthy statement.
“Now, I’m ready to play for the love of the game again. Captaincy ends. The journey continues,” she added.
The announcement also came just days after the Indian women’s team returned with the gold in cricket at the recently concluded Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. It was India’s second straight Asiad gold in the event. A fortnight before that, India won the Asia Cup under her for the record eighth time. However, her most significant achievement as a captain remains the maiden ODI World Cup haul on home turf last November.
Harmanpreet added that she is leaving the captaincy “with a heart full of emotions, but also with peace.”
“Because I genuinely believe my team is in a good place,” she said.
Overall, Harmanpreet led India in 211 international matches. In ODIs, India won 30 of the 51 matches under her leadership, while they won 92 of 155 T20Is — the most by any Indian captain across the two white-ball formats. She also captained India in five Tests, where the team lost just one match.
BCCI has yet to name the next full-time leader of the Indian team, but Mandhana stands as a strong possibility to take over the reins.
