Harmanpreet Kaur has stepped down as India women’s captain across all three formats, bringing an end to one of the longest captaincy eras in Indian women’s cricket.
The decision comes after she led India to their first ever Women’s ODI World Cup title.
The 37 year old announced her decision after a BCCI review meeting in Guwahati, saying that she felt she had done her duty and was now ready to play for the love of the game again. Harmanpreet will continue to represent India as a player across formats.
Harmanpreet took over as India’s T20I captain in 2016 before becoming the ODI captain in 2022 and the all format captain in 2023.
During her leadership, India also won a second successive Asian Games gold medal and reached the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Despite, her decision comes after a difficult period for the team and for Harmanpreet individually.
India failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup semi finals earlier this year, while her own returns with the bat had also come under doubts. There had already been calls for Smriti Mandhana to take over the leadership role.
Now, the captaincy has officially ended, but Harmanpreet’s playing career is not over.
She leaves the role as India’s only women’s World Cup winning captain, giving her captaincy era a major high before handing the responsibility to the next generation.
The big question now is whether Harmanpreet can enjoy the next phase of her career without the pressure of captaincy.
For a player who has carried Indian women’s cricket for years, this could be the start of a completely different chapter.
