Harmanpreet Kaur: The captain who changed how India’s women played cricket

Kaur's magical innings instilled belief in the Indian women's cricket team before she led them to a first world title.

Kaur’s magical innings instilled belief in the Indian women’s cricket team before she led them to a first world title. Harmanpreet Kaur’s magical innings instilled belief in the Indian women’s cricket team in 2017, before she led them to their first World Cup eight years later. For nine years, Harmanpreet Kaur’s career as captain of the Indian women’s cricket team teetered on the brink of near-misses and lingering deliberations. The biggest question centred on an elusive maiden World Cup title and India’s failure to cross the final hurdle at major tournaments. Their breakout run at the one-day international (ODI) World Cup ended in heartbreak in 2017, a year after Kaur was appointed captain in the Twenty20 format and earmarked to take over the reins across all formats of the game.

Under her leadership, India qualified for but lost their first T20 World Cup final in 2020 and ended with a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, before suffering another agonising T20 World Cup semifinal defeat in 2023. Kaur’s India beat then-defending champions Australia in a sensational come-from-behind World Cup semifinal before overcoming a resolute South Africa in the final to be crowned world champions for the first time – in front of adoring home fans. Less than a year later, on October 6, 2026, Kaur stepped down as