Star all-rounder and women’s team stalwart Harmanpreet Kaur has announced her decision to step down from her role on Tuesday, October 6. Harmanpreet’s decision comes after she helmed India’s victory at the Asian Games 2026, clinching a gold medal.
The announcement was made via Instagram through a lengthy post, where she confirmed that she will continue to remain a part of the team and that she wanted to make the call to help the side get better. The call means that Harmanpreet will step down from the captaincy role in all formats of the game for India.
“Today, I step down as captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team across all formats,” read part of her lengthy post.
She continued by explaining how she has given everything to the national side, adding: “Blood. Sweat. Sacrifice. Pride.”
Kaur ended by revealing that she will continue to play despite stepping down from her skipper role. “Captaincy ends. The journey continues.”
The Indian skipper initially took the role on a temporary basis in 2012, where she helped the Indian women in blue win the Women’s T20 Asia Cup. She further went on to take the role as a full-time captain in 2016 and ushered in an era of greatness for the Indian team.
At 37, Harmanpreet’s tenure as the Indian captain has come to an end after she led the side across five Tests, 51 ODIs and 155 T20Is.
The announcement came after a meeting in Guwahati, where Harmanpreet, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and head coach Amol Mazumdar met with BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia to discuss the team’s future plans.
It is believed that Mandhana is in line to replace Harmanpreet as the new captain of the team across all formats.
Harmanpreet has enjoyed a successful period as the Indian captain for a decade. She has recorded the most wins as a captain in women’s T20Is, winning 92 of the 155 matches that she led the team.
She has also won 30 out of the 51 matches as the ODI captain, with the crowning moment coming during the Women’s World Cup 2025 on home soil. Harmanpreet also helped engineer a sensational turnaround for the team as they defeated South Africa to win the title at home.
In Tests, she led the side in five matches, with the last one being a historic win over England at Lord’s.