Mithali Raj has made a surprise pick to name the new India captain |courtesy - IANS/AP
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Mithali Raj named her next India captain
- Harmanpreet Kaur's position is under scrutiny
- Smriti Mandhana is the vice-captain of the team
India's disastrous campaign in the Women's T20 World Cup 2024 is set to have major ramifications as the Women in Blue crashed out of the group stage and are still searching for their first-ever ICC title in senior cricket. After reaching the semi-finals in each of the last three editions, including the final in 2020, there were high hopes from the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side in the ongoing event, but the team failed to deliver.
India failed to recover from a horror start to the tournament after losing to New Zealand by 59 runs. The 2020 finalist did defeat arch-rivals Pakistan by six wickets and later thrashed Sri Lanka by 82 runs. However, a nine-run defeat to defending champions Australia meant they could not advance to the knockout stages.
Will Harmanpreet Kaur Be Sacked?
As the Women in Blue continue to wait for their first-ever major trophy on the global stage, Harmanpreet Kaur's future as Indian captain has come under the scanner. The 35-year-old has been leading the T20I team since 2018 while she was named the all-format captain in 2022.
If Harmanpreet is removed from the top job, Smriti Mandhana is the obvious pick as the vice-captain of the team. However, former India captain Mithali Raj advocated Jemimah Rodrigues' name for the top job. Raj stated that if India want to change their captain, the decision has to be made now with the 2025 Women's World Cup on home soil looming.
"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 it now, then don't do it later. Then it is too close to the World Cup.
"Smriti is there but I think someone like Jemimah, she's 24, she's young, she will serve you more. And is someone who I feel on the field gets that energy. She speaks to everybody. I was very impressed by her in this tournament," Mithali told PTI.
Despite Jemimah's lacklustre effort with the bat in the tournament, Mithali was impressed with her attempt at building momentum.
"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 momentum, she tried to carry that momentum," Mithali said.
Mithali is arguably India's greatest female cricketer ever and the highest run-getter in women's international cricket in history. She captained India to the final of the 2005 and 2017 World Cups.
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