Harmanpreet Kaur quits as India women’s captain

Harmanpreet Kaur has stepped down as captain of the India women’s cricket team across all formats with immediate effect, ending a leadership run that spanned the side’s biggest recent highs and its most searching questions.

In a lengthy Instagram post on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, the 37-year-old wrote: “Today, I step down as captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team across all formats.” She added: “This is not an easy decision. It carries years of memories, emotions, sacrifices, and moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

Kaur said she would continue to play for India. “Captaincy ends. The journey continues,” she wrote in the same statement, while also describing the personal cost of leading the team: “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.”

Her decision came in the wake of a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) review meeting in Guwahati that, according to reports, assessed the team’s recent performances and the roadmap ahead. The meeting was chaired by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and attended by Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and head coach Amol Muzumdar.

A captaincy era closes

Kaur, a top-order batter and right-arm off-spin bowler, has been one of the central figures of India’s women’s programme for more than a decade. She has captained in the shortest format since 2016 and became the full-time all-format leader after Mithali Raj’s retirement in 2022.

The match-by-match accounting of her captaincy varies across reports, but one widely cited tally says she led India in 5 Tests, 51 ODIs and 155 T20Is, winning 30 of those 51 ODIs.

Her final weeks in charge ended with silverware. India won a second consecutive Asian Games gold medal in September 2026, described in reports as her last act as skipper.

The resignation also lands against a backdrop of scrutiny that had been building since mid-year. Her leadership was questioned after India’s second successive group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup in June, a result that intensified debate about selection, tactics and the next phase of the team’s evolution.

Kaur’s statement did not point to a single match or moment. Instead, it framed the move as a considered decision after years of responsibility, with an emphasis on returning to playing “for the love of the game again,” as reported in coverage of her post.

Succession and next steps

India must now appoint a new captain for all formats, a change that will shape preparations for the next international cycle after the Asian Games. Mandhana, the current vice-captain, is widely expected to be the frontrunner, but no formal appointment was confirmed in the material available on Tuesday.

The immediate practical questions are straightforward: who leads the side in the next series, and whether the BCCI opts for a single captain across formats or splits the job. The Guwahati meeting, attended by the outgoing captain and the vice-captain alongside the head coach, suggests the board has already begun mapping out that transition.

For Kaur, the announcement attempts to draw a clean line between the armband and her place in the XI. She has indicated she will remain available as a player, positioning herself as a senior batter and all-round option rather than the decision-maker.

The change also reshapes a dressing room that, in recent years, has been built around her temperament and big-match experience. Kaur’s tenure included landmark moments for the team, and her departure from the role will inevitably be read as both an ending and an opening: a chance to refresh leadership while keeping an experienced core on the field.

The BCCI is expected to name the next captain in due course, with the squad and leadership group for India’s next assignment likely to provide the first official signal of what comes next.