New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) It’s been a little over 24 hours since Harmanpreet Kaur announced about stepping down as India’s captain across all formats, and Hemlata Kala, the former women’s chief selector, believes the one quality that will forever define her leadership tenure was the knack of drawing the best out of her players.
Kala, who was appointed a selector in 2015 and became panel chief in the following year, was in charge when Harmanpreet was named India’s T20I captain in 2016. She was also around when her successor Smriti Mandhana stood in as India’s skipper for the 2019 T20I series against England in Guwahati.
“I will remember Harman as the Indian captain who knew how to get the best out of the players. It’s similar to what Virat Kohli did in his time as India’s captain. She always had an aggressive spirit as the Indian skipper and knew how to get the most and best effort out of the players,” Hemlata told IANS in an exclusive conversation on Wednesday.
The leadership transition in the Indian women’s team did not come as a big surprise, as per the people tracking developments, who said it was something which had been brewing for months before being finalised at a review meeting in Guwahati.
Informal discussions regarding a change at the helm gained traction, particularly after India suffered a second consecutive early exit in the Women’s T20 World Cup, though head coach Amol Muzumdar publicly backed Harmanpreet to be in the top job.
“The chatter around a leadership change began in earnest right after the trip to England was over. There was a growing consensus that the T20 setup had stagnated under the existing leadership structure, and a fresh perspective was needed, though many thought Harmanpreet would hang around till the 2027 Champions Trophy.
“But after that Champions Trophy, it is followed by the Los Angeles Olympics and T20 World Cup happening in 2028, before the focus shifts to the 2029 ODI World Cup, where India will go as the defending champions. All of this got everyone convinced that it was time to move on,” further said the people privy to the developments to IANS.
Her last match in charge was the Asian Games gold-medal game, where India beat Sri Lanka by 147 runs in Nisshin, Japan. It was a fitting end to her tenure, as Harmanpreet’s captaincy had begun with a final too, when she was handed charge as a stand-in skipper for the 2012 T20 Asia Cup final against Pakistan, when Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami were unavailable.
She signs off from her leadership stint after having led India to an epic 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup triumph, thus making Harmanpreet the first captain from her country to win a senior women’s World Cup trophy. She also led India to Asia Cup wins, two Asian Games gold medals, Commonwealth Games silver medal and the first-ever women’s Test victory at Lord’s.
Harmanpreet led India in 211 matches across all formats and won 126 of them, a win rate of 59.7 per cent across formats. Beyond the records, Harmanpreet will always be credited with India challenging the bigger teams like Australia and England consistently in global events.
She will also be remembered for backing the likes of Shafali Verma, Kranti Gaud and N Sree Charani to blossom as match-winners, as well as in defending Deepti Sharma, the new ODI vice-captain, for causing the run-out of Charlie Dean at the non-striker’s end at Lord’s in 2022.
“Harmanpreet has done so many wonderful things in her long captaincy journey. She led us to the World Cup win at home last year. In 2020, she was the captain of Team India who reached the final of the T20 World Cup. In 2018, she took the team to the semi-finals. So, her journey as a captain was very good, as we saw her get many achievements for the Indian team,” added Hemlata.
She also said Harmanpreet’s leadership qualities were evident from the time she entered the Indian team as a hard-hitting youngster wearing her emotions on her sleeve. “From the beginning, she had leadership qualities. She has improved day by day in terms of bowling changes and bringing a spirit of togetherness to the team.
“We gave her the T20I captaincy in 2016 and in 2018, she took the team to semi-finals of the World Cup (where she hit a hundred in the first game against New Zealand) and in 2020, India reached the final under her. After we left as selectors, she was there in taking India to the ODI World Cup win. Seeing Harman from the inside as well as from the outside, I believe she improved day by day both as a captain and as a player.”
Harmanpreet’s high point came last year, when India won the ODI World Cup at home, their first title in a global ICC women’s event. The campaign threatened to wobble midway, but Harmanpreet led from the front, especially when the Navi Mumbai leg began.
In the semifinal against Australia, she made 89 alongside Jemimah Rodrigues to complete a record chase, and she ran back to complete the catch that sealed the final victory in their favour against South Africa. On whether Harmanpreet should continue in the side as the senior figure in the setup, Hemlata replied in the affirmative.
“She should definitely be in the team because she is a match-winner. Even if she doesn’t have the captaincy armband, there is no problem. But one has to keep in mind that there are no middle-order batters like her in the cricketing world right now who can play spinners really well and ruthlessly dismantle their lengths. I think she should definitely be in the team. I don’t think there are any doubts in this regard.”
Hemlata also felt the leadership armband mattered little to Harmanpreet. “Yes, it’s pretty simple. But Harman has one more thing – she doesn’t care about the captaincy thing much. Even if she is not there as the captain, she will still play her game very well. She became the vice-captain in 2017 and still played that unbeaten 171 against Australia. The bottomline is Harman plays and knows her game very well and it doesn’t really matter if she is the captain or not.”
At the same time, Hemlata backed Smriti, a two-time WPL-winning captain with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, to do a good job as the new Indian skipper. “Smriti has been the vice-captain and has the experience of captaining India and other teams before. There are a lot of things which she can take forward, and she has a lot of good qualities as a leader.
“Smriti and Harman have been good friends. They must have thought about it before. Yes, they are different players with different styles – Harman is an aggressive captain, while Smriti is cool as a skipper and plays the game calmly, just like how Rohit Sharma was as the captain.
“Both of them are different and have a different way of thinking. I don’t know what will happen in future, but if Smriti can take good learnings from Harman’s captaincy stint, then she should use it to the fullest.”
Harmanpreet’s tenure at the helm will forever be etched in Indian cricket folklore as the captain who ended the country’s long wait for a maiden senior women’s World Cup title. It served as a fitting reward for someone who witnessed agonising near misses in the 2017 ODI and 2020 T20 World Cup finals, as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games final and 2023 T20 World Cup semi-final.
While Harmanpreet steps down after shaping a squad from being plucky underdogs into serious contenders to win global titles, her role remains far from complete. As Smriti takes the captaincy wheel, India’s immediate success will also hinge on Harmanpreet’s swashbuckling batting – unburdened by captaincy, playing with her characteristic flair, and quietly shaping a new era of the team from within the ranks.
–IANS
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