India women’s national cricket team Captain: When India lost their record match to Australia in Vizag in the Women world cup, it was a big blow to the campaign and the backlash has come right at the official captain of the team, Harmanpreet Kaur. What saw an encouraging opening with 155 between openers Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal failed to go off in a dramatic manner. Since 294 of 5 in the 43rd over, India collapsed to 330 of 49th over and failed to take advantage of a good stand and the tactical weaknesses were revealed in the final overs.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s Time To Step Down As Captain?
During the post match press conference, Harmanpreet admitted that India lost out on additional runs and cited common problems like collapses in the batting line up and lack of a solid sixth bowler. She defended the combination of the team members stating that it had worked well in previous games. However, the social media did not spare her, people scolded her leadership, bad judgment, and absence of runs as the team captain demanding a change of captaincy. It was pointed out by critics that she has been able to score only 71 runs in five games in the tournament without one fifty. She was also caught on camera in a stressful situation on the field admonishing a young player such as Harleen Deol who turned down a quick single, something considered bad advice by her own experience with the bat. Even the bowling unit was under fire. On the five bowler arrangement of India, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, and Deepti Sharma could not hold the Australian chase and with no Renuka Thakur and Radha Yadav, the attack had a one dimensional aspect.
Should Smriti Mandhana Replace Harmanpreet Kaur As India’s Captain?
This defeat further worsens the bad history of India, they have not won a single world cup match against the best of the best such as Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa during the last five years. As they are about to play their next match in Indore against England, the pressure is increasing. A lot of people tend to think that it is high time that Indian selectors consider the possibility of whether they can still carry on with Harmanpreet as the head of the team or whether they need to go ahead and make a radical about turn.
Also Read: IPL 2026 Auction: Full List Of Big Names Likely To Be Retained And Released By All 10 Teams
