But is it a case of the elevation coming too late in the day for the 30-year-old left-hander, who is the country’s best batter right now by quite a distance? The call from Harmanpreet, who led India for the first time in 2016, to step down from captaincy across formats was taken following a review meeting with the BCCI. The 37-year-old from Moga ended her path-breaking leadership tenure on a high, having just captained India to a second consecutive Asian Games gold in Japan.
It was a no-brainer that Smriti Mandhana would receive the honour of captaining the Indian women’s cricket team after Harmanpreet Kaur’s resignation from the position.
Smriti Mandhana received the honour of captaining the Indian women’s cricket team after Harmanpreet Kaur’s resignation from the position.
Having made her debut way back in 2013, the elegant opener has risen to be among the leading batters in the game, tallying more than 10,000 runs across formats.
“They were not seeing eye to eye for a while now and that led to an obvious unease in the dressing room,” said a team source. After India crashed out of T20 World Cup in the UK earlier this year, the legendary Mithali Raj had told PTI that the selectors should have elevated Mandhana two or three years ago while questioning Harmanpreet’s form and fitness. She can still be the ODI and Test captain and the T20 captaincy could be given to someone younger like Shafali (Verma),” Mithali had said.
“I thought she would be given the captaincy of the ODI format two-three years back. It caused factionalism in the team and now with Harmanpreet wanting to continue as a player for the next two or three years, it remains to be seen if she and Mandhana can shed that baggage for the team’s cause. Harmanpreet was not at her best While India dominated the recent Asia Cup and the Asian Games. As a pure batter in the side, the expectations are bound to rise going forward and she will have to raise her game significantly to stay in contention
