She came. She led. She conquered. Now, she has stepped down.
So, the best captain Indian women’s cricket has ever had will no longer walk out to toss with the rival captain in an international game. Harmanpreet Kaur would be cherishing those walks to the middle, in the glare of the television cameras. She is someone who has enjoyed captaincy. And it was a job she did rather well, for all those talks about the need for change in captaincy in recent times. “Only Kapil Dev and M.S. Dhoni have done that,” former India captain Shubhangi Kulkarni reminds you over phone from Pune. “So she is in a very exclusive club. And she played a major role in the Indian victory as a batter, too. But, a determined Australia, riding on a superb partnership with its champion all-rounders Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner, knocked India out of the competition, avenging the loss in the ODI World Cup. “From a team which was competing well, and expecting to do well, to becoming a team that wins major championships — she did it through some real high points and through some very low points, too.
Everyone talks about Jemimah Rodrigues’ brilliant hundred in the semifinal against Australia, but Harmanpreet made 89. Even in her last appearance as a captain against the Aussies, in the league match at the T20 World Cup at Lord’s, she had cracked a 27-ball 56 that gave India at least a fighting chance in what was a must-win situation. We have waited for a long, long time, for 50 years to win a senior ICC championship. There was a heartbreak in 2005 and then a bigger one in 2017 (India lost the World Cup finals).
Shubangi, one of the pioneers of women’s cricket in India, says Harmanpreet indeed was able to transform the Indian team with her leadership. “She has led India through a period of enormous changes,” she said.
So what Harmanpreet’s Indian team did last year is indeed remarkable, and it is something she could always be proud about.”
Biju also has always been in awe of her batting.
“Her 171 not out against Australia in the semifinal of the 2017 World Cup in England is the best innings I have ever seen, by a male or a female cricketer, and I was lucky that I could watch it along with the Indian team,” he said.
Because i believed the team had to come first, there were moments when I had to put my individual performance, my own growth, and what I wanted for myself aside,. “I have given everything I had to this team and to Indian women’s cricket — my blood, my sweat, my time, and many times, a part of my own game and personal ambitions. And Harman could change the complexion of a game with those big shots. And she has been doing it for so long. Biju feels she could be scoring more runs after relinquishing the captaincy. “And I think she has quit captaincy at the right time. Smriti also deserves to be a captain for a few years. And I also think it is good that they did not split the captaincy between formats. It is always to have just one captain. Multiple captains could create issues within the team. Shubhangi feels Harmanpreet deserves credit for handling the transition period in Indian women’s cricket well. “We had to struggle for funds, and things were not easy at all for India’s female cricketers. Now there is money and opportunities for our players.”
“She could bat with more freedom,” he says. “She is the only player in the team from the time WCAI (Women’s Cricket Association of India), of which I was the secretary, was running the game,” she says.