For years, the question followed Harmanpreet Kaur everywhere. Should she continue as India captain? Had the time come to pass the baton to the next generation? After every disappointing tournament, every batting failure and every painful exit, the debate returned.
On Tuesday, October 6, the answer finally came from Harmanpreet herself.
The 37-year-old stepped down as India’s captain across all formats, bringing the curtain down on one of the most eventful leadership careers in women’s cricket. She will continue to play for India, but the captain’s hat is no longer hers as she has passed it on to Smriti Mandhana.
Perhaps there was an argument for Harmanpreet to walk away from leadership after India’s historic ODI World Cup triumph last year. She had finally achieved the one prize that had eluded her for so long. But she stayed on. She led India to the Women’s Asia Cup title in September and then guided them to a second successive Asian Games gold medal in October.
What better way to leave than with another gold around her neck?
Harmanpreet did not walk away after failure. She did not leave with questions hanging over her. She bowed out after leading India to another major title, with her head held high and her duty, as she put it, done.
TAKING OVER IN TURMOIL
Harmanpreet’s captaincy journey was never supposed to be easy. She took over as India’s full-time T20I captain in 2016, at a time when the team was still searching for direction in the shortest format. India had endured a miserable campaign at the 2016 Women’s T20 World Cup on home soil, winning only one of their four group matches and failing to reach the semi-finals. Harmanpreet was soon entrusted with taking the team forward.
She brought something different to the leadership role. There was aggression, instinct and a willingness to take risks. More importantly, she was prepared to carry the weight of expectation.
Then came the innings that changed how the world viewed her.
Her unbeaten 171 against Australia in the 2017 Women’s World Cup semi-final remains one of the defining knocks in Indian women’s cricket. It carried India into the final and turned Harmanpreet into a global name. India eventually lost the Lord’s final to England, but something had changed.
The belief that India could compete with the world’s best was no longer theoretical. Harmanpreet had helped create it.
The heartbreak, however, was only beginning.
WEIGHT OF CAPTAINCY
The hardest part of being India’s captain was not always what happened on the field.
In 2018, Harmanpreet found herself at the centre of one of the most bitter controversies in Indian women’s cricket. Mithali Raj was left out of the T20 World Cup semi-final against England despite having scored two half-centuries earlier in the tournament. India lost by eight wickets, and the decision became a national talking point.
Harmanpreet defended the selection call and said she had no regrets. The backlash was severe. Mithali’s manager publicly attacked the captain, and the controversy became so draining that Harmanpreet later admitted she had considered stepping away from cricket altogether.
It was an early lesson in what leadership meant for her. A captain could make a decision for the team and still have to carry the consequences alone.
Two years later, Harmanpreet took India somewhere they had never been before. At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in front of 86,174 spectators, India reached their maiden Women’s T20 World Cup final. The final against Australia ended in disappointment, but reaching that stage was another significant step forward.
For Harmanpreet, there was no trophy yet. But the dream was getting closer.
CRUELEST HEARTBREAK
Perhaps no moment captured the cruel side of Harmanpreet’s captaincy better than the 2023 T20 World Cup semi-final against Australia.
India were chasing 173 in Cape Town and had been reduced to 28 for 3. Harmanpreet, who had battled illness to take the field, joined Jemimah Rodrigues and dragged India back into the contest with a 69-run partnership. She was beginning to take the game away from Australia, bringing up a 32-ball fifty as India moved within touching distance.
Then came one of the most cruel dismissals of her career.
Harmanpreet swept towards the deep and set off for two. Ashleigh Gardner stopped the boundary and the throw came back towards Alyssa Healy. The second run looked comfortable.
But as Harmanpreet slid her bat towards the crease, it dug into the ground and got stuck.
Healy reacted instantly, whipped off the bails and Harmanpreet was run out for 52. India eventually fell five runs short, finishing on 167 for 8.
For a moment, Harmanpreet simply could not believe what had happened. She walked back in disbelief before her frustration boiled over.
India had been so close.
Once again, Harmanpreet had played the role of the fighter, only for another World Cup dream to slip away in the cruelest fashion.
It became another defining image of her captaincy: India had fought back from the brink, Harmanpreet had led from the front, and yet glory remained just out of reach.
WAIT FOR GLORY
The years that followed brought both progress and frustration. India won the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, then Harmanpreet led the team to its first Asian Games gold in 2023. Under her leadership, India also secured their first Test victory over Australia, while her tenure saw the team continue to grow across formats.
Yet the big ICC trophy remained out of reach.
The 2017 World Cup final had been lost by nine runs. The 2020 T20 World Cup final ended in a heavy defeat. India continued to produce talented players and competitive teams, but the final step remained elusive.
And that made Harmanpreet’s wait particularly painful. She had been there for the near-misses. She had been there for the criticism. She had been there when India came close enough to touch history but not close enough to hold it.
Then came 2025.
India’s home World Cup campaign did not begin smoothly, but the team found its rhythm when it mattered. In the semi-final against Australia, Harmanpreet produced an important 89 in a match-winning partnership with Jemimah Rodrigues. India reached the final, where South Africa stood between them and history.
This time, there was no heartbreak.
India won by 52 runs in Navi Mumbai to claim their maiden Women’s Cricket World Cup title. Harmanpreet became the first Indian woman to captain the country to a senior World Cup trophy, joining Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni as the only Indian captains to win a senior World Cup.
The wait was finally over.
QUESTIONS BEFORE THE GOODBYE
And yet, even after reaching the summit, the questions about Harmanpreet’s future as captain never completely disappeared.
Her batting form became an increasing part of the conversation. When runs dried up, the spotlight on her leadership became even harsher. India also endured disappointing T20 World Cup campaigns, and after the team’s struggles, there were renewed calls for a change in leadership.
It was not difficult to understand why.
Harmanpreet was no longer the young leader who had taken charge in 2016. A new generation was emerging, with Smriti Mandhana and several younger players ready to shoulder greater responsibility.
But Harmanpreet kept going.
She led India to the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup title, their record-extending eighth crown, before taking them to another Asian Games gold in Japan. India beat Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final, giving Harmanpreet another gold-medal moment as captain.
And perhaps that was the perfect final chapter.
A legacy beyond numbers
Harmanpreet leaves behind numbers that tell only part of the story.
She bows out as the most successful women’s T20I captain by wins, having led India for years through changing generations and changing expectations. She became the first cricketer to captain in 150 T20Is and one of the most capped players in international cricket.
But her greatest contribution cannot be measured simply in wins.
She helped take Indian women’s cricket from the pain of almost winning to the belief that winning was possible. She experienced the heartbreak of 2017, the controversy of 2018, the tears of Melbourne in 2020 and the pressure that came with every subsequent failure.
And then, finally, she held the World Cup trophy.
She could have left then. She could have said that the job was done.
Instead, she stayed for another year, won the Asia Cup, won another Asian Games gold and then decided it was time.
That matters.
Harmanpreet’s farewell is not the story of a captain being forced out after one final disappointment. It is the story of a leader choosing her moment after completing a journey that had tested almost every part of her.
She leaves the captaincy, but not Indian cricket.
The hat is gone. The memories remain.
The heartbreak remains, too. So do the tears, the battles, the arguments and the moments when it all seemed too much.
But above everything else, so does the glory.
Harmanpreet Kaur leaves as a World Cup-winning captain, a two-time Asian Games gold-winning leader and India’s most successful women’s T20I skipper.
Most importantly, she leaves with her head held high.
– Ends
