Harmanpreet Kaur steps down as India women's cricket captain after nearly a decade

On 6 October 2026, Harmanpreet Kaur announced her resignation as captain of the India women's cricket team in all formats, closing out nearly a decade in charge that took the side from a run of near-misses to their first World Cup title in history.

Kaur's announcement, at age 37, came just a day after discussions about the future of Indian women's cricket between her, Smriti Mandhana, head coach Amol Muzumdar and honorary secretary of the Indian cricket board Devajit Saikia. Mandhana, who served as vice-captain for four years, steps up in her place.

On her personal page, Kaur wrote: "This was not an easy decision," while confirming she will continue to play international cricket. "As captain, I had to make difficult decisions. Decisions that were not always understood correctly, not always easy, and sometimes at a cost to myself."

Nearly a decade and a series of near-misses

Kaur was appointed to lead the T20I side from 2016, after India were eliminated in the group stage of a home T20 World Cup. Shortly afterwards she became the first Indian player to sign a contract to play in the Big Bash League, Australia's franchise T20 competition.

Her mark as a batter came early. In the semi-final of the 2017 ODI World Cup against Australia, Kaur made 171 not out, carrying India into the final and changing perceptions of the power and aggression an Indian woman batter could bring. India went on to lose the final, but that run is seen as a turning point for the country's women's game.

Kaur later recounted that her father's friends had once discouraged her from playing big shots on the grounds that "girls aren't strong enough to clear the ropes". "After watching the 2017 World Cup, they started believing that I and my team-mates could do it," she told The Cricket Monthly magazine.

In 2018, at her first T20 World Cup as official captain, Kaur took India to the semi-finals for the first time in eight years and scored the team's first T20I century with 103 off 51 balls against New Zealand. It is regarded as the start of the transformation of Indian women's cricket in a format where they had long struggled.

In 2020, India reached the T20 World Cup final for the first time, powered by young players such as Shafali Verma and Poonam Yadav, but lost to Australia in front of more than 86,000 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Though her personal form was modest, Kaur showed growing maturity as a leader. "Two or three years ago, I was far more aggressive on the field. I used to lose my composure easily, but things are changing," she said.

Head coach at the time WV Raman praised Kaur's ability to lead a young squad: "The most important thing for a captain is to make each member realise they are an essential part of the team. In that respect, this was a challenge for her, but she handled it brilliantly."

Raising standards and changing the way they play

Kaur inherited a T20I side in transition, with a wave of bolder, more athletic young players coming through. After heavy defeats to Australia and England at a home tri-series in 2018, she demanded "players fit enough to run all over the field". Her attacking philosophy went beyond the physical, instilling in the team a belief that India could beat Australia and England.

After iconic captain Mithali Raj retired in 2022, Kaur took charge across all formats for the first time. That same year, India travelled to England and won an ODI series 3-0 for the first time in 23 years, with Kaur scoring 221 runs, including 143 not out off 111 balls.

The final match of the series at Lord's produced a moment that showed Kaur's leadership steel. All-rounder Deepti Sharma ran out England's Charlie Dean at the non-striker's end as she backed up, a dismissal legal under the rules but controversial. Asked about the incident, Kaur was blunt: "I think you should ask about the first 10 wickets, because they weren't easy to take. I will back my player because I don't think she did anything against the ICC rules."

From chasing the leaders to champions

Despite the progress, India could not get over the line in major finals. Australia denied them gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and knocked them out in the semi-finals of the 2023 T20 World Cup. In 2024 and 2026, India exited at the group stage.

But under Kaur, expectations rose as India kept winning bilateral series against England, Australia and South Africa. By 2025, India won the ODI World Cup for the first time, on home soil.

In the semi-final, their opponents were again Australia. Eight years after Kaur's 171 at the 2017 World Cup, she scored 89 while Jemimah Rodrigues produced her best performance with 127 not out to help India knock Australia out. In the final against South Africa, Kaur took a catch from cover, backpedalling to pouch Nadine de Klerk's lofted shot, ending the opposition innings and setting off the title celebrations.

Shafali Verma, whom Kaur backed from the 2020 T20 World Cup when she was just 16, was named player of the match in the final. After Kaur announced her resignation, Verma wrote on social media: "From the day I made my debut, you have always been by my side, on and off the field. You led us through many extraordinary moments and helped shape the team we are today."

Kaur, the most-capped player in the India women's team, ends her captaincy tenure with a record of 5 Tests, 51 ODIs and 155 T20Is, with win rates of 80%, 58.82% and 59.35% respectively. Her final match in charge was at the Asian Games in Japan, where India won gold; nine days earlier, the team had won the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

The medals and trophies are only part of Kaur's story. The rest lies in how India learned to play a different way under her. Now, with the 30-year-old Mandhana taking over, the Indian team is aiming at the inaugural ICC Women's Champions Trophy in early 2027 and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, with expectations at a new level.