Harmanpreet Kaur has stepped down as India’s captain across all formats after guiding the team to its first women’s ODI World Cup title. Smriti Mandhana has been named her successor.
Kaur, 37, announced her decision on October 6. She said in an Instagram post that it was not easy and that she would continue playing international cricket. Mandhana, her deputy for four years, will lead the side in all formats.
Kaur became India’s full-time T20 captain in 2016. A year later, she scored an unbeaten 171 in the ODI World Cup semifinal against Australia, taking India into the final. The innings challenged assumptions about the power and aggression Indian batters could bring to the women’s game.
Under Kaur, India reached its first T20 World Cup final in 2020 and won silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. That year, the team also swept an ODI series in England 3-0, its first such series win there in 23 years. Kaur led the series with 221 runs, including an unbeaten 143 at Lord’s. After Deepti Sharma ran out England’s Charlie Dean at the non-striker’s end in the final match, Kaur publicly backed her teammate, saying the dismissal was within ICC rules.
India lost a T20 World Cup semifinal to Australia in 2023 and exited the 2024 and 2026 tournaments in the group stage. But in 2025 the team won its first ODI World Cup. India beat Australia in the semifinal, with Kaur scoring 89 and Jemimah Rodrigues making an unbeaten 127, then defeated South Africa in the final.
Kaur’s final weeks as captain brought an Asia Cup title and gold at the Asian Games. During her tenure, India played five Tests, 51 ODIs and 155 T20 internationals under her leadership. The first ICC Women’s Champions Trophy is scheduled for early 2027, followed by the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Mandhana will lead India into those events.