Time to appoint Smriti Mandhana as captain of Indian team in all three formats: Diana Edulji | Cricket News
MUMBAI: Former India captain Diana Edulji feels it’s time to appoint vice-captain and superstar batter Smriti Mandhana as captain of the Indian women’s team “in all three formats of the game.”Mandhana became the leading run-getter in women’s internationals, en route to her hundred (124) in the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 on Thursday against Hong Kong in Dubai. She broke former Indian women’s captain Mithali Raj‘s record of 10,868 runs. Mandhana also broke the record for most centuries (18) in international cricket, the most by any batter in the women’s game, surpassing Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt, who have 17 apiece. Mandhana has two hundreds in T20Is, two in Tests and 14 in ODIs. The elegant left-hander has 93 fifty-plus scores across formats in international cricket, the joint-most by any batter, alongside Raj.It was also Mandhana’s second T20I hundred, thus making the 30-year-old the first Indian woman to score multiple centuries in the shortest format of the game.“I congratulate Smriti Mandhana on becoming the leading run-getter in women’s internationals. I feel that it’s high time that the national women’s selection committee, led by Amita Sharma, appoints Smriti as the new captain in all three formats of the game. Harmanpreet Kaur can continue to play as a senior player in the side,” Edulji said while talking to TOI.Explaining the reasoning behind seeking a transition in captaincy, Edulji said, “All I’m saying is that Harman is already in her late 30s (37). When would you want her to give up the captaincy and give it to Smriti, who has just entered her 30s (30). I don’t want Harman to be dropped from the Indian team. I’ve no ill-feeling towards her. She’s still a great player, but I think Harman should be relieved of the captaincy pressure, and left to just concentrate on her batting, because runs aren’t coming off her bat. Harman’s form is crucial for our team to win more championships. This move will increase her time span in the India XI. It’s very important that someone scores runs in the middle order, because we can’t keep depending on our openers all the time. So, I think that this is the right time for Smriti to take over the India captaincy. Her confidence and skill level are high right now. And let Smriti take it forward from here, so that she has a long run (as a captain) then. At least give her white-ball captaincy for now, and maybe Harman can continue as a Test captain.”“After a few years, Smriti will be in her late 30s; then what do we do? Whom do we train after that (for India captaincy)? Right now, we can have Jemimah (Rodrigues) or Shafali (Varma) as the vice-captain, and train them (for the bigger responsibility),” Edulji said.“Well deserved, Smriti! I’ve watched you grow from a young player into one of the finest batters India has produced. To see you go past my record and become the highest run-scorer in international cricket is a moment I’m genuinely proud of. Here’s to many more runs and milestones. Keep going!,” posted Mithali on ‘X’ on Thursday.Under the 37-year-old Harmanpreet’s captaincy, the Women-in-Blue clinched their maiden ODI World Cup win last year, but exited in the group stage of the Women’s T20 World Cup for the second time in a row. However, they bounced back to beat England by 270 runs in the historic one-off Test at Lord’s. The national selectors have shown faith in Harmanpreet by retaining her as India’s captain for the ongoing Asia Cup in Dubai and the Asian Games in Japan in Sept.In an exclusive interview with TOI on July 14, Mandhana, when asked about whether she was ready for the India captaincy, replied by saying, “Yes, of course, I am ready!”After India’s league stage exit in the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, India’s head coach Amol Muzumdar was asked about Harmanpreet’s future, and he said he would like to see her continue as skipper. “It’s up to the selectors to decide the captain. I think, yes, my short and sweet answer would be yes,” Muzumdar had stated.
