Split Captaincy, Sudden Exit: Why Harmanpreet Stepped Down
A proposed split between ODI and T20 captaincy reportedly became the sticking point, prompting a complete exit rather than a divided role
India women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s sudden resignation follows a reported proposal to split captaincy, with Harmanpreet continuing as ODI captain while another player led the T20 side. She was reportedly not comfortable with the arrangement and chose to step down across formats, opening the way for a new leadership phase. Following are the voices we have exclusively obtained from the cricket fraternity.
“Why not different captains for different formats? Gill is playing that role in men’s cricket. If someone is fit enough to do all three formats then it is ok, but personally I feel each format must have different captains.”
— Karsan Ghavri, former cricketer
“I feel the selectors have a better view… In men’s cricket too, for ODIs and Tests we’ve got one captain, and for T20s a separate captain. It should be accepted by the players because selectors are watching from afar and can see things better. I don’t think there is any harm in having separate captains for white-ball and Test cricket.”
— Maninder Singh, former cricketer
“Basically Harman has been missing a few matches due to fitness issues and Smriti had led India in a few games. She must be wanting to concentrate on batting alone. I think she reaped the benefits of captaining in all formats, so she wants Smriti to have the same advantage. For the management also it is easier unless they have different coaches for different formats, which is not the case.”
— Nilima Jogalekar, former player and match referee
“Honestly, there is nothing wrong in giving partial captaincy. Harman has achieved everything, but the selectors or management must have thought about giving ODI captaincy to one and T20 captaincy to another. There is nothing wrong in it.”
— Tushar Arothe, former women’s team coach
