Smriti Mandhana Takes Over as India Captain From Harmanpreet Kaur

Smriti Mandhana has taken over the captaincy of the Indian women’s cricket team from Harmanpreet Kaur, The Hindu reported.

“She wasn’t just the obvious choice; she was the only choice,” the newspaper wrote.

Quick Facts

Age	30
Succeeds	Harmanpreet Kaur
WPL record as captain	Two titles with Royal Challengers Bengaluru
First WPL title	2024
Next T20 World Cup	2028

Why Her

Mandhana is the most experienced player in the team after Harmanpreet, and commands the respect of her team-mates.

She is not new to the role. She has stood in when Harmanpreet was unavailable, and has led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to two Women’s Premier League titles. The first, in 2024, ended the franchise’s long wait for a trophy.

The Job Ahead

The Hindu’s assessment of the team is mixed.

• One-day internationals: excellent. India won the World Cup last year.
• Tests: strong, though rarely played. India beat England at Lord’s recently.
• T20 internationals: the weak point. India have never won the T20 World Cup and did not reach the knockout stage in the last editions.

What Needs Fixing

The newspaper identified three problems in the T20 side:

• results against stronger teams such as Australia and South Africa
• a lack of batting power in the middle order beyond Richa Ghosh
• a shortage of quality all-rounders

A Quiet Leader

The Indian Express described Mandhana as a quiet leader who leads by example.

Captaincy brings extra pressure. Given her talent and ambition, The Hindu wrote, it is unlikely to affect her batting, and may even help it.

Sources: The Hindu, Indian Express (October 2026).

Featured image: Members of India’s World Cup-winning women’s cricket team with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2025. Photo by the Prime Minister’s Office, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.