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Cricket PlayersHarmanpreet Kaur's successor is obvious: Why Smriti Mandhana is ready to usher India into a new era after years as vice-captain
Harmanpreet Kaur's exit leaves a huge void, but Smriti Mandhana has the experience, trophies and leadership pedigree to take Indian women's cricket forward.
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In one of the biggest steps taken in Indian cricket in recent years, Harmanpreet Kaur has officially stepped down as the captain of the Indian women's cricket team across all three formats. She has thus closed a chapter on perhaps the greatest captaincy tenure in the history of women's cricket in the country. She leaves behind an unmatched legacy, finishing as the most successful T20I captain in history, with 92 wins from 155 games. She also led the Indian women's cricket team to their most landmark achievement in history, when the Women in Blue finally won the ODI World Cup for the first time in history in 2025. Under her leadership, India claimed back-to-back Asian Games gold medals in 2022 and 2026, a Commonwealth Games silver, and Asia Cup dominance. With the position of the Indian captain now vacant, there is no better choice for it than current vice-captain Smriti Mandhana. The left-handed opener has been the tactical understudy to Harmanpreet Kaur for years and has already proven to be one of the main pillars of the side.
Why Smriti Mandhana is already a proven leader
For years, Smriti Mandhana has always been the second in command and has come in to lead India sporadically in Harmanpreet's tenure. She possesses a good captaincy record for the Women in Blue. In 18 T20Is, she has led the team to 11 wins, while winning all 4 ODIs that she has captained.
Deep Dive
However, the turning point in Smriti Mandhana’s leadership resume was when she was handed over the reins of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the inaugural season of the WPL in 2023. She led the franchise to their first-ever title in 2024, even before the men's side had won their first IPL trophy.
Two years later, she followed it up with a second title in WPL 2026, where she finished as the tournament's highest run-scorer.
Managing a dressing room full of international superstars like Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, Richa Ghosh, etc. requires immense tactical maturity and major man-management skills. While Mandhana might be calm and calculated on the field, in contrast to the aggressive nature of Harmanpreet Kaur, she has proved that she can be a great leader.
ALSO READ: What happened in BCCI meeting that led to Harmanpreet stepping down
Smriti Mandhana's stats do the talking
To captain one of the leading international sides, one needs to perform well on the field herself in order to command respect. Over the years, Smriti Mandhana has established herself as the biggest mainstay of the Indian batting unit. She made history during the Asian Games 2026, as she became the first woman to cross 11,000 international runs. In doing so, she broke the long-standing tally of 10,868 runs set by Mithali Raj. In ODIs, Mandhana has 5,411 runs, 788 in Tests and a world-record 4,788 runs in T20Is. In fact, she recently surpassed New Zealand's Suzie Bates to become the outright leading run-scorer in the shortest format.
Smriti Mandhana does not just score runs - she scores big. She has 18 hundreds across formats. This is the most number of tons scored by a player in women's cricket history. Having the world's leading run-scorer and century-maker at the helm of affairs will give the Indian team a massive psychological boost even before a ball is bowled in a game.
Replacing a captain who won a World Cup, two Asian Games gold medals and 4 Asia Cups is no easy task. However, Smriti Mandhana has the experience, the leadership capability and the world-class statistics to confidently take the job. Elevating her to the role of full-time captain is just a natural progression, as she is the most experienced campaigner in the Indian team setup after Harmanpreet herself. Mandhana is not just the best batter in the world; she is the exact leader India take it's golden generation into a new era of more trophies and global dominance.
