With Smriti Mandhana certain to charge of the national team, the BCCI is reportedly wanting to build a team around her
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India’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur during a training session ahead of the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 in Dubai, UAE, on Saturday, August 29, 2026(Photo: IANS/X/@BCCIWomen)
Indian batter Harmanpreet Kaur, who called time on her national team captaincy tenure yesterday, was offered a chance to retain her leadership duties by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, before the 37-year-old publicly announced that she will step down as captain after 10 years in charge.
Harmanpreet was appointed as permanent captain of the Test side back in 2016, six years before she was handed the ODI and T20I captaincy from the legendary Mithali Raj who retired from the sport in 2022Since then, the Indian women’s team experienced both success and distress across major ICC tournaments.
While Harmanpreet could not guide the Indian team to success in the T20 World Cups, the 37-year-old delivered the nation’s first-ever ODI world title last year after India’s splendid win over South Africa in the finale at Navi Mumbai.
That remains the highlight of Harman’s captaincy tenure other than winning the Lord’s one-off Test match against England earlier this yearHarmanpreet is also the only Indian captain across genders to win back-to-back Asian Games gold medals.
Just a week or so after winning her second Asiad gold, Harmanpreet was of the view that it was the perfect time to give up on captaincy as she wanted to leave with full dignity and on a positive note, something every Indian captain desires.
Harmanpreet declined the chance to retain ODI captaincy
According to a latest report from Cricbuzz, the 37-year-old was offered the chance to retain her captaincy in the one-day format, but she eventually decided against itThis happened during the BCCI’s review meeting with Harmanpreet Kaur, women’s team head coach Amol Muzumdar and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana.
Since the women’s team does not play as many Test matches, the board asked Harmanpreet to continue captaining the ODI side, which tasted World Cup success under her leadership only a year ago.
However, due to the surmounting pressure caused by disappointments in the last two T20 world cup editions, the Punjab-born batter wanted to step aside and contribute for the team with her batting.
It is certain that Smriti Mandhana will takeover as the Indian captain with the BCCI reportedly wants to build a team around herThe main focus of the national team, at the moment, is to build up positively for the next T20 World Cup and the Los Angeles Olympics in two years’ time.
Mandhana has tasted decent success as captain in the Women’s Premier League, winning two WPL titles with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2024 and 2026.
