Smriti Mandhana takes over as India women's cricket captain after Harmanpreet Kaur steps down

Smriti Mandhana says taking over as the full-time captain of the Indian women's cricket team will not be very hard for her because she has served as vice-captain for nearly 10 years. Mandhana got the new role earlier this month on the exact same day that Harmanpreet Kaur stepped down from it. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mandhana stated she has already been part of the leadership group for a long time so the job is not completely new to her. She added that she looks forward to the task and hopes to do justice to the position. Mandhana also mentioned she expects the captaincy to have zero effect on her batting performance. Recalling her early days, Mandhana shared advice from her coach when she was 15 years old to always bat with the mindset of a captain and take full responsibility. She confirmed she will still hit the ball when it is in her zone and play whatever way her team needs her to play. Having played for the Indian team since 2013, Mandhana previously worked as Harmanpreet's deputy and has already captained India in 18 T20Is and four ODIs. The 29-year-old scored 434 runs to finish as the second-highest run-scorer at the 2025 World Cup. She also made history in June 2025 by becoming the first Indian woman to score international hundreds across all three formats when she hit a T20I century against England.

First Assignment

Mandhana will begin her tenure as full-time white-ball captain when India hosts Zimbabwe for a three-match T20I series starting on Friday, which will be followed by three ODIs in Vadodara. She expressed excitement about playing Zimbabwe for the first time and noted that facing Associate nations offers a chance to learn from teams that simply enjoy playing cricket.

Context

Bilateral cricket series serve as important preparation for major international tournaments like the upcoming Champions Trophy. Mandhana noted that the Indian team has six T20 matches to play before the Champions Trophy to set high standards for their approach over the next three months.