Former India captain Mithali Raj believes the decision on the team’s next leader should go beyond the disappointment of another early T20 World Cup exit. Speaking to PTI, Raj said selectors must assess three key factors; a player’s fitness, form and whether they fit into India’s plans for the next World Cup cycle.
“Yes, we did not qualify for the semi-finals for the second time in a row but that cannot be the only reason or criteria to come to conclusion that you need to change the leader,” Raj said. “Because I believe that there are few boxes that one need to actually see if the player ticks those boxes.”
Fitness and availability, she said, are particularly important considerations for any captain.
“One is, of course, the fitness, I feel is very important,” she said. “Harman in the last two-three years, you see the physio quite often on the ground, every game when she’s playing. There were a few games that she was unavailable. So, you obviously would want your captain to be fit and available for all games. And unfortunately, all of us age, so she’s not the fittest.
“If you see Harman’s form in the three World Cups, the Dubai T20 World Cup 2024, the ODI World Cup 2025, and the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2026, we’ve seen a pattern. She gets those 15-20 runs but it always takes her three to four games to get her 50 in the World Cup.
“And the third factor is that: does she fit into the scheme of things in the next cycle of your one-day World Cup or a T20 World Cup? So, I think whoever is in the position to take this decision has to factor these things.”
Raj believes Smriti Mandhana should have taken over the ODI captaincy earlier and now feels the experienced batter is the right choice to lead India in the 50-over and Test formats.
“I at least thought Smriti would lead the ODI format two-three years back,” Raj told PTI. “But now also, with the vast experience that she has at least the one-day and Test format should be given to her and perhaps the T20 to someone younger.
“I think Shafali Verma. Her format is T20Is. And she has led the Under-19 World Cup side to a title win in 2023. Why not Shafali? Jemi Rodrigues too of course, yes. She has led Delhi Capitals in the WPL. But I do believe that whoever they pick, they need to give them some time to settle. Because all of us got time to settle in our role as a leader.”
Raj also believes India need to build a stronger leadership plan. With Harmanpreet and Smriti having formed the core of the leadership group for years, she feels the team has not developed a clear third option.
“So far, the leadership group, for the longest time, has been these two; Harman and Smriti. But we’ve never had a third person who we can think that, okay, this person can lead in their absence. And, sadly, that’s where we are at the moment,” the legendary former Indian batter said.
She pointed to Shafali and Niki Prasad as examples of players who have already shown leadership potential at the junior level but, in her view, were not given enough opportunities to continue that development.
“But I would like to also state that I was able to lead for so long as BCCI invested in me, same way like it did in Harman,” she said. “Shafali led India to the U-19 World Cup title but she was not given leadership role in the senior team. Why?
“Ditto for Niki led India U-19 to the title in 2025, who should have been made India A skipper. So, I don’t understand the thought process here. We don’t have a road map. We don’t think about two years down the line, where do you see Indian team? We are only thinking series to series. We don’t have a long-term plan.”
Raj believes Indian women’s cricket needs a clear succession plan that identifies and develops future leaders well before they are required to take over.
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