India captain Harmanpreet Kaur added another unprecedented record to her career on Saturday, becoming the first cricketer in the history of the game, across men's and women's cricket, to captain a team in 150 T20 Internationals. Harmanpreet reached the landmark during India's Women's Asia Cup clash against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Pakistan captain Fatima Sana won the toss and elected to bat first as Harmanpreet walked out for her 150th match in charge of the Indian T20I side.
The scale of the record becomes clearer when compared with the other longest-serving captains in the format. Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu is second among women with 121 matches as captain, while Rwanda's Marie Bimenyimana has led her country 101 times. Former Australia captain Meg Lanning finished her career with exactly 100 matches in charge.
No man has even reached 100 T20I matches as captain. Namibia's Gerhard Erasmus leads the men's list with 91, followed by Rwanda's Clinton Rubagumya with 90 and former Pakistan captain Babar Azam with 85. Harmanpreet, therefore, has now captained 59 more T20Is than the leading man on the list.
Harmanpreet's remarkable record as India captain
Before Saturday's fixture, Harmanpreet had led India in 149 T20Is, recording 86 outright victories against 57 defeats, with one tie and five no-results. That translates to a success rate of just over 60 per cent when only matches producing a win or defeat are considered.
There is a small statistical wrinkle in the win column. India's tied T20I against Australia in December 2022 is recorded as a tie in conventional match statistics, although Harmanpreet's side went on to win the Super Over. That is why some records credit her with 86 wins while others describe India as having won 87 matches under her captaincy.
{{/usCountry}}There is a small statistical wrinkle in the win column. India's tied T20I against Australia in December 2022 is recorded as a tie in conventional match statistics, although Harmanpreet's side went on to win the Super Over. That is why some records credit her with 86 wins while others describe India as having won 87 matches under her captaincy.
{{/usCountry}}There is also a neat connection to Pakistan running through Harmanpreet's captaincy journey. She was the stand-in skipper when India faced Pakistan in the 2012 Women's T20 Asia Cup final, with regular captain Mithali Raj unavailable through injury. India were bowled out for just 81 but defended the total spectacularly, dismissing Pakistan for 63 to win by 18 runs. Harmanpreet had contributed 20 with the bat.
Harmanpreet subsequently took over as India's regular T20I captain in 2016, replacing Mithali, and led the side at that year's Asia Cup. Nearly 14 years after that 2012 final, Pakistan were again the opposition as she reached the landmark of 150 matches in charge.
Her leadership career has since included Asia Cup triumphs, India's run to the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup final, the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and gold at the 2023 Asian Games. The biggest achievement arrived in November 2025 when India defeated South Africa to win their maiden Women's ODI World Cup, making Harmanpreet the first Indian woman to captain the country to a senior World Cup title.
The latest landmark comes only months after Harmanpreet created another record in the same format. During the T20 World Cup clash against South Africa in June, she became the first cricketer, male or female, to play 200 T20 Internationals. She now stands alone with two of T20I cricket's biggest longevity records — the first player to 200 appearances and the first captain to 150 matches.