Harmanpreet — A leader who took India to uncharted terrains

She came. She led. She conquered. Now, she has stepped down.

So, the best captain Indian women’s cricket has ever had will no longer walk out to toss with the rival captain in an international game. Harmanpreet Kaur would be cherishing those walks to the middle, in the glare of the television cameras. She is someone who has enjoyed captaincy. And it was a job she did rather well, for all those talks about the need for change in captaincy in recent times.

Granted, she could not take India to the semifinals of the Women’s T20 World Cup in England three months ago. But, last year she had led India to an ODI World Cup triumph.

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“Only Kapil Dev and M.S. Dhoni have done that,” former India captain Shubhangi Kulkarni reminds you over phone from Pune. “So she is in a very exclusive club. And she played a major role in the Indian victory as a batter, too. Everyone talks about Jemimah Rodrigues’ brilliant hundred in the semifinal against Australia, but Harmanpreet made 89.”

After losing the openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma inside 10 overs, it was the skipper’s 167-run stand for the third wicket with Jemimah that put India’s chase of a World-record breaking target. Harmanpreet knows how to make an impact in big games, and she certainly knows how to torment Australia, the best team in women’s cricket.

Even in her last appearance as a captain against the Aussies, in the league match at the T20 World Cup at Lord’s, she had cracked a 27-ball 56 that gave India at least a fighting chance in what was a must-win situation. But, a determined Australia, riding on a superb partnership with its champion all-rounders Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner, knocked India out of the competition, avenging the loss in the ODI World Cup.

That was indeed a big blow to Harmanpreet and her women. They were one of the favourites and were at least expected to make the semifinals, but the defeat to South Africa, earlier in the Group of Death, was always going to be costly.

Historic triumph

The Indians, however, won the historic Women’s Test at Lord’s, which was played right after the World Cup. And India totally outplayed England.

That was followed by the twin successes at the Asia Cup and the Asian Games. So Harmanpreet could end her captaincy on a high.

She admitted, through her widely read Instagram post, that the decision to step down was not easy. “The decision carries years of memories, emotions, sacrifices, and moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life,” she wrote.

“I have given everything I had to this team and to Indian women’s cricket — my blood, my sweat, my time, and many times, a part of my own game and personal ambitions. There were moments when I had to put my individual performance, my own growth, and what I wanted for myself aside, because I believed the team had to come first.”

She said she had to make some difficult decisions. “Decisions that were not always understood, not always easy, and sometimes came at a personal cost,” she explained. “But every decision I made was with one intention - to make this team better and to give other players the opportunity to grow, believe in themselves and become the best versions of themselves.”

Shubangi, one of the pioneers of women’s cricket in India, says Harmanpreet indeed was able to transform the Indian team with her leadership. “She has led India through a period of enormous changes,” she said. “From a team which was competing well, and expecting to do well, to becoming a team that wins major championships — she did it through some real high points and through some very low points, too. We have waited for a long, long time, for 50 years to win a senior ICC championship. There was a heartbreak in 2005 and then a bigger one in 2017 (India lost the World Cup finals). So what Harmanpreet’s Indian team did last year is indeed remarkable, and it is something she could always be proud about.”

Transformed the side

Biju George, who has worked with Harmanpreet as the fielding coach of the Indian team also rates her captaincy highly. “She was an aggressive captain who hated losing,” says the Thiruvananthapuram-based man whose wards include Sanju Samson. “As a captain, she has reminded me of Sourav Ganguly. Like he transformed the Indian men’s team, Harman did something similar with the women’s team.”

Biju also has always been in awe of her batting. “Her 171 not out against Australia in the semifinal of the 2017 World Cup in England is the best innings I have ever seen, by a male or a female cricketer, and I was lucky that I could watch it along with the Indian team,” he said.

“Harman is one of the earliest batters who brought in power to women’s cricket. We have many players who can hit hard now, but not at the time when she was doing it.”

And Harman could change the complexion of a game with those big shots. And she has been doing it for so long. Biju feels she could be scoring more runs after relinquishing the captaincy. “She could bat with more freedom,” he says. “And I think she has quit captaincy at the right time. Smriti also deserves to be a captain for a few years. And I also think it is good that they did not split the captaincy between formats. It is always good to have just one captain. Multiple captains could create issues within the team.”

There isn’t, of course, a better option than Smriti to lead India in all formats. And she was quick to pay a tribute to Harmanpreet’s captaincy.

“It has been a pleasure playing with you for so many years,” Smriti wrote on social media. “Ten years of your leadership have been fantastic and together, we will strive to bring many more laurels for our nation.”

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Smriti’s opening partner Shafali also spoke of how much Harmanpreet meant to her.

“Since the day I made my debut, you have always been there for me, on and off the field,” said the swashbuckling opener. “From guiding me through the early days to standing by me through everything, I have always known I could count on you.”

Those words from Shafali actually reveal something about Harmanpreet. She nurtured young talents — be it Shafali, Shree Charani or Kranti Gaud — and encouraged them always. One has seen her wax eloquent about those youngsters at press conferences several times. You could understand how much their successes meant to her.

She was excited to see the emergence of Kranti as a quality seamer that India desperately wanted. And she made Shafali bowl when not many were expecting her to. The emergence of Shafali as a spinner who could bowl at different stages of a match has given the Indian attack an excellent option. She has justified her captain’s faith in her with some fine spells.

Shubhangi feels Harmanpreet deserves credit for handling the transition period in Indian women’s cricket well. “She is the only player in the team from the time WCAI (Women’s Cricket Association of India), of which I was the secretary, was running the game,” she says. “We had to struggle for funds, and things were not easy at all for India’s female cricketers. Now there is money and opportunities for our players.”

Harmanpreet could always be proud about her role in taking women’s cricket forward. That is something nobody could take away from her. And that World Cup.

Captaincy matters in cricket. Harmanpreet has shown that, the way few women in international cricket have.