Harmanpreet's future as India captain reportedly doubtful after T20 World Cup exit; Mithali names her ideal candidate

Harmanpreet Kaur faces the possibility of being removed from captaincy after India failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup for the first time in nearly a decade. The BCCI isn’t too happy about the way the Women in Blue performed in the UAE and are reportedly considering appointing a new leader in the aftermath.

The legendary Mithali Raj too isn’t pleased with Team India’s performance, not just in the ongoing World Cup but in recent years, saying she saw no growth in the team in the “last two three years” and called for someone younger to take over from Harman.

Harmanpreet had led India to the semi-finals of the 2018 and 2023 Women’s T20 World Cups along with a runner-up finish in Australia in 2020. In the ninth edition of the mega event in the UAE, however, India were forced to play catch-up after suffering a 58-run thrashing at the hands of New Zealand in their opening game.

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They managed to keep their hopes alive with wins against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but found themselves on the brink of elimination after a narrow loss against Australia. New Zealand's 54-run victory over Pakistan in the final Group A fixture would then confirm India’s failure to qualify for the semis for the first time since 2016.

According to The Indian Express, the BCCI is set to conduct a meeting with the selection committee as well as head coach Amol Muzumdar in the aftermath of India’s exit from the T20 World Cup and take a call on Harmanpreet’s future as skipper.

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The Mumbai Indians captain had taken over as captain on a full time basis in the shortest format after the Women in Blue failed to reach the semis under Mithali’s leadership in 2016, though she was named all-formats captain only recently after the legendary batter retired in 2022.

The board is expected to take a call on captaincy before unveiling India’s squads for the ODI series against New Zealand at home that begins on 24 October. Even if she’s removed from captaincy, Harmanpreet is expected to remain a key member of the side along with Smriti Mandhana, who has been serving as vice-captain for some time now.

Mithali backs Jemimah to take over

Former India captain Mithali isn’t a fan of India’s performance under Harmanpreet’s leadership in recent years and slammed their approach in the Asia Cup in July as well as in the T20 World Cup.

Mithali felt failure to adjust to the conditions in the UAE quickly enough was one of the reasons why India are not featuring in the World Cup knockouts.

“Surprisingly, we took time to adjust to the slowness of the wicket. Unlike an ODI World Cup, it is a short tournament, you don’t have a lot of time to adjust to the conditions. Someone like (New Zealand captain) Sophie Devine was able to score that many runs (57 not out) against us and she is not used to playing on slow tracks. We were not quick enough to adjust,” Raj told PTI.

“I feel that in the last two-three years, I’ve not really seen any growth in this team. In the sense, like, I mean, beating the best side is what you always prepare for, but it seems like we are saturated in the sense we are beating other teams, and we are pretty happy in that. Every other team has shown growth despite limited depth, a case in point being South Africa. We have not.”

Mithali, who holds the record for most appearances as well as most runs in the ODI format, added that the Women in Blue failed to zero in on their ideal playing XI during the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, in which they lost to the hosts in the summit clash to lose the final for only the second time ever.

“I was doing commentary in the Asia Cup. To be very honest, I didn’t know what was happening. I’m sure they were aware that Asia Cup is the last series of matches that they’re going to play before the World Cup.

“When you know that this is the last game time that you’re going to have before you enter the big tournament, you do at least 70 per cent of your planning or 80 per cent of your planning. Like who your No. 5 or No. 6 is, these are people who would walk in a particular situation. But there it seemed they were playing only for that tournament,” Raj added in a scathing review of India’s performances this year.

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Mithali, meanwhile, threw her weight behind young top-order batter Jemimah to succeed Harmanpreet as captain.

“Smriti (Mandhana, the vice-captain since 2016) is there but I think someone like Jemimah (Rodrigues), she’s 24, she’s young, she will serve you more. And (she) is someone who I feel on the field gets that energy. She speaks to everybody. I was very impressed by her in this tournament,” Mithali added.