Harmanpreet Kaur Resigns as India Captain After Leading Women's Team Across All Formats

Indian women’s cricket team captain, Harmanpreet Kaur who led the side to its maiden World Cup title has stepped down from the role across all three formats of the games. She announced her decision via an Instagram post.

Having stepped away from the leadership role she has left the team in a ‘good place’ and she said she is now ready to play for the love of the game again. The 37-year-old veteran led India in 5 tests, 51 ODIs and 155 T20s. Her last stint as India captain was leading India to a successive Gold Medal win at the Asian Games in Japan last month.

Her decision to step down as the captain of team India after she, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and head coach Amol Muzamdar met the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia in Guwahati to discuss the roadmap of Women’s team for the future.

In her caption, Harmanpreet wrote, “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. I have given everything I had to this team and to Indian women's cricket - my blood, my sweat, my time, and many times, a part of my own game and personal ambitions. There were moments when I had to put my individual performance, my own growth, and what I wanted for myself aside, because I believed the team had to come first.

As a captain, I have had to make difficult decisions. Decisions that were not always understood, not always easy, and sometimes came at a personal cost. But every decision I made was with one intention - to make this TEAM better and to give other players the opportunity to grow, believe in themselves and become the best versions of themselves.”

Even before Harmanpreet made her decision public, there were ongoing murmurs about the change in the leadership, especially after India’s exit in the group-stage from the T20 World Cup. The selection committee, headed by Amit Sharma is understood to have been divided but Harmanpreet had indicated a desire to lead India at the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles.

Harmanpreet first captained India in T20I in 2012 as a stand-in skipper, but it wasn’t until 2016 that she was considered a full-time leader. In 2018, she led the team to semi-final in the T20I in the Caribbean after taking over captaincy from Mithali Raj and then she also led India to T20 World Cup finals in Australia in 2020.

Harmanpreet stepping down from the leadership role does not change her stance as far as playing the shortest format of the game. She is expected to continue to lead Mumbai Indians in the upcoming WPL, which starts early next year as the team will look to win their third championship.