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The legendary Mithali Raj has urged the Indian women’s team selectors to replace Harmanpreet Kaur with a younger captain keeping the next World Cup in mind. Harmanpreet Kaur-led India were eliminatd from the group stage in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Mithali Raj feels it is the right time to replace Harmanpreet Kaur as India’s captain. (Photo: Getty Images)
New Delhi: The legendary Mithali Raj feels it is the right time for a change in leadership in the Indian women’s cricket team following their dismal exit from the group stage of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. India bowed out of the tournament after managing only two wins in their four matches in the group stage. Their exit was confirmed after Pakistan’s defeat against New Zealand on Monday.
After suffering a close 9-run defeat against Australia, India’s hopes were pinned on Pakistan, who needed to beat New Zealand for the Women in Blue to remain in contention for the top four. However, Pakistan’s defeat shattered India’s hopes of progressing to the next stage as the Kiwis joined Australia as the second team to qualify for the semi-finals from Group A.
Mithali has called for Harmanpreet to be replaced as captain after India failed to make it to the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. The former India captain cited the need of a younger leader and fresh energy in the team after their failure to make an impact in the big tournaments in recent years. Mithali said the selectors should not waste time if they are considering a change in captaincy.
“If the selectors decide to change, I would go for a young captain. This is the time (to change) if you delay more then we have another World Cup on the horizon. If you are not doing now, then don’t do it later. Then it is too close to the World Cup,” Mithali told PTI.
Mithali Raj names potential successor to Harmanpreet Kaur
The former India captain, who is the leading run-getter of all time in Women’s ODIs, picked Jemimah Rodrigues as a potential candidate to succeed Harmanpreet. While she agreed Smriti Mandhana remains a viable option to replace Harmanpreet, Mithali said she was quite impressed by the way Jemimah carried herself in the tournament and tried to create momentum for her team when required.
“Smriti is there but I think someone like Jemima, she’s 24, she’s young, she will serve you more. And someone who I feel on the field gets that energy. She speaks to everybody. I was very impressed by her in this tournament.
Despite playing those cameo roles, she never could convert her starts, but someone who really made an effort to build a momentum if there was no momentum, and if there was a momentum, she tried to carry that momentum,” added the former India captain.
24-year-old Rodrigues has been with the Indian team for a while now and is a vital cog in white-ball cricket. She made his international debut for India in 2018 and has so far played 30 ODIs, 3 Tests and 104 T20Is for the team. Jemimah has 710, 235 and 2142 runs in the three formats respectively. She has also been a T20 globe trotter and has played in numerous T20 leagues around the world.
India’s abysmal display in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 means Harmanpreet has now failed to win the elusive trophy despite having captained the team in as many as 4 T20 World Cups. She has captained India in four editions of the tournament in 2018, 2022, 2023 and 2024 but failed win a single trophy, raising questions about her captaincy credentials.
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