Photo via The Times of India

Harmanpreet's captaincy: 211 matches, one WC and a debate that never went away

Harmanpreet Kaur’s captaincy of India’s women’s cricket team spanned an extraordinary 14-year arc, beginning and ending with finals. Her leadership debut came in 2012 as a stand-in for the T20 Asia Cup final against Pakistan, while her final match as captain was the 2026 Asian Games gold-medal decider, where India crushed Sri Lanka by 147 runs.

Across 211 matches, she delivered 126 victories, eight major trophies—including India’s first-ever ODI World Cup—and set records as the most-capped T20I captain in history, with 155 appearances. Her tenure also saw her transition from part-time to full-time leadership in all formats after Mithali Raj’s retirement in 2022, overseeing a 59.7% win rate and a batting resurgence, with four centuries and 10 fifties in ODIs at an average of 44.00—nearly 7 points higher than her pre-captaincy career mark.

Yet her legacy remains clouded by persistent debate, fueled by high-profile losses, including three straight finals against Australia, and calls for a leadership change that only grew louder after the 2024 T20 World Cup exit and even intensified following the 2025 ODI World Cup win. India’s struggles against Australia—winning just 9 of 44 matches under her captaincy—highlighted her toughest challenge, while her numbers improved dramatically when India prevailed, with an average of 45.51 in wins compared to 26.69 in defeats.

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