Harmanpreet Kaur: The captain who changed how India’s women played cricket

For nine years, Harmanpreet Kaur’s career as captain of the Indian women’s cricket team teetered on the brink of near-misses and lingering deliberations. asserted

The biggest question centred on an elusive maiden World Cup title and India’s failure to cross the final hurdle at major tournaments. asserted

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In November 2025, the what-if was finally buried. asserted

Kaur’s India beat then-defending champions Australia in a sensational come-from-behind World Cup semifinal before overcoming a resolute South Africa in the final to be crowned world champions for the first time – in front of adoring home fans. asserted

Less than a year later, on October 6, 2026, Kaur stepped down as India’s all-format captain, ending a decade-long leadership journey that saw India transform into world champions after decades spent chasing cricket’s traditional heavyweights Australia and England. asserted

“This is not an easy decision,” the 37-year-old wrote in an Instagram post, adding that she will continue to play international cricket. asserted

“As a captain, I have had to make difficult decisions. asserted

Decisions that were not always understood, not always easy, and sometimes came at a personal cost. asserted

The announcement was made after discussions on the future of Indian women’s cricket, which took place a day earlier between Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, head coach Amol Muzumdar and Devajit Saikia, honorary secretary of the Indian cricket board. asserted

Mandhana, who was Kaur’s deputy for four years, replaced her as captain. asserted

Kaur, India’s most capped women’s cricketer, enjoyed a leadership stint that included five Test matches, 51 ODIs and 155 T20Is, with win percentages of 80, 58.82 and 59.35 respectively. asserted

The Punjab-born top-order batter’s last game in charge was the recently concluded Asian Games in Japan, where India stepped on the podium as gold medallists. asserted

Nine days earlier, Kaur led them to an Asia Cup trophy in the United Arab Emirates. asserted

The medals and trophies tell one part of Kaur’s tale as captain. asserted

The other lies in how India learned to play differently under her. asserted

Kaur took over as India’s full-time T20I captain in 2016, after the team’s disappointing group-stage exit at a home T20 World Cup. asserted

It followed a match-winning innings that helped India win their first T20I series against Australia in any format, and a few months later, she was signed as the first Indian cricketer in the Big Bash League, Australia’s franchise T20 cricket competition It did not take long for Kaur, the batter, to announce her intentions. Facing the mighty Australia in the semifinal of the ODI World Cup in 2017, Kaur played an unbeaten innings of 171 that took India into the final and challenged long-held assumptions about the power and aggression an Indian batter could bring to the women’s game. Following the World Cup runners-up finish, which is widely regarded as a defining moment in Indian women’s cricket, the top-order batter recalled how her father’s friends would discourage her from playing big shots, saying, “Why do you need to attempt big hits when you know girls do not have power to clear the rope?” uncertain

“After watching [the 2017] World Cup, they started believing maybe my teammates and I can clear the rope,” she said in an interview with The Cricket Monthly magazine. asserted

Years later, former Australia captain Alyssa Healy made a telling observation about her contemporary’s influence on the Indian team. “What she has done in leading this Indian side, and [a] new generation of Indian women into the modern game, has been amazing to watch,” Healy said in 2023, before India’s Test match against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. asserted

At her first T20 World Cup as full-time captain in 2018, Harmanpreet led India to their first semifinal in eight years, while scoring India’s first T20I century with a 51-ball 103 against New Zealand. asserted

It set in motion an evolution in Indian women’s T20s, a format they had historically struggled in. asserted

India’s strengths had been better suited to ODIs, making Kaur’s task of shepherding a younger side towards a more aggressive, modern T20 game crucial and timely. asserted

In 2020, India went a step further in the T20 World Cup, reaching their first final, driven largely by 16-year-old batting all-rounder Shafali Verma and legspin bowler Poonam Yadav. asserted

Still, Australia overpowered them in front of a record 86,000-plus home crowd at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. asserted

Despite her own poor performance in that tournament, Kaur evolved as a leader. asserted

“Two or three years ago, I used to be a lot more aggressive on the field,” she said during the tournament. asserted

“I used to lose my temper very quickly, but things have been changing within me. asserted

I have seen that change translate into results for me and the team.” asserted

Then-India head coach WV Raman praised Kaur’s handling of a young side. asserted

“The most important thing as a captain is to make each member of the side realise that they are an integral part of that side,” Raman said. asserted

“In that regard, it was a challenge for her, but she has coped with it brilliantly.” asserted

Raising the bar Kaur inherited a T20I side in transition, with an influx of younger players bringing greater fearlessness and athleticism. asserted

After heavy defeats against Australia and England in a home tri-series in 2018, she called for “fit players who can run all across the ground”. asserted

Her attacking philosophy extended beyond the physical aspect of the game and instilled a conviction that India could beat Australia and England. uncertain

Following the retirement of India’s iconic captain Mithali Raj in 2022, Kaur enjoyed all-format captaincy for the first time. asserted

In the same year, India travelled to England and shocked them with a 3-0 ODI series win for the first time in 23 years. asserted

Kaur scored a series-leading 221 runs, including an unbeaten 143 from 111 balls. asserted

The final match of the series was played at Lord’s Cricket Ground and offered a glimpse of Kaur’s leadership skills. asserted

India’s all-rounder Deepti Sharma ran out England’s Charlie Dean at the non-striker’s end for the final wicket of the match. asserted