Smriti Mandhana to Replace Harmanpreet Kaur as Women's ODI Captain? Ex-Skipper's Daring Take After India Win Women's World Cup

Women's World Cup 2025: It not even been 72 hours since Harmanpreet Kaur led the Indian women's cricket team to their maiden WC crown. Despite her phenomenal leadership, former India captain Shantha Rangaswamy has called for a bold leadership change. She has urged Harmanpreet to pass the baton to Mandhana. Claiming that it is ‘overdue’, Rangaswamy reckoned Harmanpreet can go a little off the boil tactically. She also opined that Mandhana should be made the captain for Indian women's cricket team across formats as one needs to plan for the future. 

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Has Mandhana Led Teams in The Past? 

The southpaw is no stranger to the role of leadership. 

Back in 2019, she led the national side for the first time against England. By doing so, she became the youngest-ever skipper in India’s women’s cricket history at the time. More recently, Mandhana captained India in their T20I series against England ahead of the 2025 World Cup.

"I I'm so grateful for this crowd. They've been so amazing. Thank you, thank you, guys, for being there for us, for in all our ups and downs. And credit goes to our entire cricket team, BCCI, selectors, everyone back home, thank you, thank you so much," said an extremely-emotional Harmanpreet just after the win. 

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Mandhana Tops With Bat

Mandhana was India's star performer at the marquee event emerging as the highest run-scorer. 

She amassed 434 runs in nine innings at an average of 54.25, with a century and two fifties. Her best score is 109. In most games, she got India off to a steady start which helped them lay a base for the final flourish.