CHENNAI: As India captain Harmanpreet Kaur sank into the dugout of the Lord's Stadium on Sunday evening, she faced a harsh truth. Just like that, for the second consecutive time, another T20 World Cup had slipped through her hands.
At her tenth T20 World Cup, where she scaled a peak where no man or woman has ever gone before — to play 200 T20Is — Harmanpreet and her team have once again fallen short at the hands of a SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) team, failing to make it past the group stages. Truth be told, it is hard not to say that this was coming. India's record against the SENA teams at ICC events is not one to remember fondly. In the last five ICC events across formats, they have won against these four teams only thrice — against NZ, Australia and SA each in the ODI WC last year — in 16 matches.
However, the underlying cause is not so simple as a stronger opponent outplaying them. It runs much deeper. From conservative approach with the bat, to lack of role clarity, inconsistent selection policy, especially when it comes to the bowling unit, perennial fielding issues, dropped catches... the list goes on. It may seem like a generic list, but here is what head coach Amol Muzumdar had to say after the loss against Australia on Sunday. The former Mumbai captain backed the decision to bat first on a pitch where South Africa successfully chased earlier in the afternoon, felt the total of 170 was par and India had been batting aggressively enough through the course of the World Cup before throwing the bowlers under the bus.
"If I have to pinpoint on certain things in the entire tournament, I think we really need to think about our bowling and our fielding. We also need to be a little aggressive with the bat, and we could have maybe 15-20 runs as cushion. But if you look at our bowling attack, it's been very inexperienced as far as international cricket is concerned. I have said this before in the previous press conference that give us 18 months and this attack will be a different one," he said. Skipper Harmanpreet spoke, and has in the past as well, on similar lines. "Through the tournament, we didn't play good against good teams. As a group we really need to rethink a lot of things. Because sometimes we are in the game but last few overs we give away easy runs, and when we are chasing we are not able to get those runs while batting. So we need to rethink in the next couple of months," she said after the loss.
While there is no doubt that India's fielding has been a long-continuing issue — they dropped more catches than any other team in the tournament — when Muzumdar said the bowling attack would look different in 18 months, it might have to be taken in the literal sense. This Indian team has seen bowlers come in and go out like a Bollywood cameo while the batters have consistently enjoyed a longer rope.
Since the last T20 World Cup in October 2024, India have handed ten T20I caps (most by any team, next best is five from NZ), off which, barring G Kamalini, everyone else is a bowler or an all-rounder (two left-arm spinners, one offie, one leggie, three seamers and a seam-bowling all-rounder). And the number of debuts goes up to 14 in ODIs during this period.
That India chose to bat first on Sunday despite knowing that the bowling attack is inexperienced and the fielding issues continuing while dropping their best seamer in Nandni Sharma and retaining an extra cushion in batting (Yastika Bhatia) sums up the approach of Harmanpreet's team. Granted India were affected by the injuries of Amanjot Kaur, Kashvee Gautam and Shreyanka Patil (mid-tournament), but the team management has not helped themselves with their approach when it comes to their bowlers. And there is a clear pattern over the last few years which is not restricted to this last T20 WC cycle. Which makes one ask the most important question of all — is it time for a change of guard at the top with Smriti Mandhana taking over as India captain?
While Harmanpreet has made her desire to play on and be a part the Olympics — which is in 2028 and India have qualified as of Monday — will she continue as India's captain moving forward? Muzumdar said: "It's up to the selectors to decide the captain. I think, yes, My short and sweet answer would be yes."
Now, Harmanpreet led India to their historic ODI WC title at home is one of the bona fide legends of the sport. She is still India's best middle-order batter. She can build an innings, hit sixes at will and bat out opponents like no other. She is still one of the fittest and athletic among her teammates. And that is testament to the work ethic of the 37-year-old. Not to mention that India do not have a ready replacement for her in the line-up. There is little to no merit to question her place in the playing XI, at least for the foreseeable future.
However, as a T20I captain, she has fallen short time and again at the highest level. Having led in five T20 WCs, where they reached the semifinal twice and the final once, she does not have a trophy to show for. And for the longest time there is an heir apparent waiting to take over in Mandhana. The left-handed opener has been India's best batter over the years, and is one of the best in the world for good reason. Every time India fail, their over-reliance on her, and Harmanpreet, has been dissected over and over again.
The women's game is clearly in a better place than when Harmanpreet started as a player and led India in T20Is after the 2016 T20 WC. And the 37-year-old herself has had a significant role to play in it, lifting the team with her inspiring innings and passion for the sport at various points in time. The Women's Premier League is here, the player pool is growing faster than ever and the women's game is changing at a faster pace than ever before. At 37, it seems like the right time for Harmanpreet to pass the baton to her colleague with whom she enjoys a close relationship with.
Unlike England or Australia, India have the luxury of an experienced leader, who has served as Harmanpreet's deputy for close to eight years, in Mandhana. Australia went for a left-field choice in Sophie Molineux after Alyssa Healy while England chose their best player Nat Sciver-Brunt post Heather Knight. At 29, Mandhana — the only Indian athlete named in the inaugural TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in Sports list — has proven herself as a leader every chance she has got. Whether it is with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in WPL or with India in Harmanpreet's absence from time to time — Mandhana has won all four ODIs as skipper and has a win-loss ratio of 1.833 (best among Indians) in 18 T20Is.
It only seems logical that the 29-year-old be named Harmanpreet's successor. Given the packed international calendar — Asian Games 2026, ICC Women's Champions Trophy 2027, 2028 T20 WC and Olympics are the big events coming up — there is no right time to make the amicable transition from one legend of the sport to one in making and is ready to take Indian cricket into the next chapter.
Furthermore, Mandhana, too, would need time to make this team her own. Which is why, if the 29-year-old were to take over at least in the shortest format, it would allow her to build for the future with Harmanpreet by her side leading up the 2028 LA Games.
While the Indian team are staying back in England for the historic Lord's Test (first women's Test at the venue) against England, their next T20I assignment, as things stand, would be the Asian Games in Japan later this year.
Come September, will the selection committee, led by Amitha Sharma, and BCCI take such a call? It would be a surprise if they do.
