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Harmanpreet Kaur etched her name in history books as she became India's first Women's World Cup-winning captain. Harmanpreet-led India defeated South Africa in the final of the 2025 Women's World Cup to lift their maiden ICC title. The Women in Blue suffered heartbreak in the 2005 and 2017 ODI WC finals. They finally lifted the trophy in the third attempt. Following India's World Cup win, Shantha Rangaswamy has asked for Harmanpreet to leave the captaincy. The India legend has opined that Smriti Mandhana should be appointed the new India captain. She is the present vice-captain of Team India. "It's overdue. Because Harman, as a batter and a fielder, is brilliant. Yes. But tactically, she can fumble at times. I feel she can contribute more if she's without the burden of captaincy. See, when it comes after a success like this (World Cup win), it will not be taken well. But in the interest of Indian cricket and in Harman's own interest, I think she can contribute much more as a batter without the burden of captaincy," Rangaswamy told PTI. "She still has three to four years of big-time cricket left. Not being captain would allow her to do that. Smriti should be made captain across formats. You need to plan for future World Cups as well." Rangaswamy was the first captain to lead the Indian women's cricket team. She was also the first India captain to win a Test series. Rangaswamy was the first India to hit a Test century. Also Read: Meet Amol Muzumdar, Indian Women's Team Head Coach, Who Never Played For India; Scored More Than 10000 Runs Harmanpreet's captaincy stint While Harmanpreet has been leading India in T20Is since 2016, she only became the full-time ODI captain following Mithali Raj's retirement in 2022. India have won 30 out of 48 ODIs under him. Harmanpreet hinted at continuing as the captain as she is now eyeing the Champions Trophy. "Now, next year there's also World Cup and then Champions Trophy is there. So, so many big occasions are coming. We just want to, you know, keep improving day by day. This is not a end. This is just a beginning. And we just want to keep giving our best," the India captain after winning the ODI Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Sports, Cricket and around the world.
