Smriti Mandhana hails 10 years of Harmanpreet Kaur’s leadership

Harmanpreet steered India to four Asia Cup titles, two Asian Games golds, a Commonwealth Games silver, and a historic ICC ODI World Cup triumph, leaving Mandhana to carry forward the leadership mantle for the national side. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Smriti Mandhana, the newly-appointed all-format captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, paid rich tribute to her predecessor Harmanpreet Kaur following her decision to step down from India captaincy.

In a social media post on Instagram, Smriti said, “It’s been a pleasure playing with you for so many years. Ten years of your leadership have been fantastic, and together, we will strive to bring many more laurels for our nation.”

Smriti Mandhana’s note for Harmanpreet Kaur | Photo Credit: IG/Smriti Mandhana

Harmanpreet’s resignation brought to an end a decade of her leadership of the side. India initially operated with a dual captain system with Harmanpreet helming the T20I side and Mithali Raj handling ODIs and Tests. Harmanpreet took full control of the side after Mithali Raj’s retirement in 2022.

Harmanpreet led India to four Asia Cup titles, two Asian Games gold medals, one Commonwealth Games silver and, most importantly, a historic ICC ODI World title.

Smriti, now an all-format leader, will start her full-time captaincy job with the home T20I and ODI series against Zimbabwe later this month.