Harmanpreet Kaur Steps Down as India Women's Captain in All Formats

Harmanpreet Kaur has stepped down as captain of the India women's cricket team in Tests, ODIs and T20Is, announcing the decision in a social media post on Tuesday. She will carry on playing for India.

Kaur described it as "not an easy decision" and wrote of the memories and sacrifices of her time in charge, saying she has given everything to the team and Indian women's cricket.

The announcement came a day after a review meeting in Guwahati on Monday, which looked at the team's results over recent months. Kaur, head coach Amol Muzumdar, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia were reported to be in the room.

Reports link the decision to the pressure that followed India's recent T20 World Cup campaign, which ended without a place in the semi-finals, and to scrutiny of Kaur's own T20 batting form.

She leaves the job after leading India in 211 internationals: five Tests, 51 ODIs and 155 T20Is. The high point came in 2025, when India won the Women's ODI World Cup for the first time with Kaur as captain. India also won Asian Games cricket gold under her, in 2022 and again this month in Aichi-Nagoya, where our medal records list Kaur, Mandhana and Shafali Verma in the gold-medal team.

Mandhana, the vice-captain, is widely expected to take over. The reports I found do not show an official BCCI announcement naming a successor.