Oddsworth

An Oddsworth Opinion

What does Harmanpreet Kaur leave behind the captain’s chair?

· Opinion

The story

Sportstar reports that Harmanpreet Kaur has resigned as India women’s captain after a tenure marked by multiple titles, led by the 2025 ODI World Cup. The recent results give her successor a difficult starting point, while Kaur’s batting still gives India reason to keep her in the top order.

Sportstar · 6 October at 07:13 BSTHarmanpreet Kaur resigns as India women’s cricket team captain: India’s record under Harmanpreet in all formatsRead the full story

Harmanpreet Kaur has resigned as India captain with the 2025 ODI World Cup as the prize that defines her tenure. In women’s ODIs over her last two years, she averaged 36.15 with the bat, against 31.07 for top-seven batters from September 2024 to September 2026.

India’s next captain inherits the trophy and a bruising finish. India lost to Australia by six wickets on 24 February, by five wickets on 27 February and by 185 runs on 1 March. Those defeats do not diminish the World Cup. They do make the handover feel rather less like a lap of honour.

The matches behind the title

Sportstar calls Kaur the most successful skipper in Indian women’s cricket and points to multiple titles. That is a powerful account of what her captaincy achieved. The ODI World Cup run also shows a side that had to find its way through trouble.

India lost to England by four runs on 19 October 2025, then beat Australia by five wickets on 30 October and South Africa by 52 runs on 2 November. The two wins were the answers that mattered at the time. Set beside the losses to Australia after the title, they give the next captain a clear task: restore the winning habit Kaur’s side found when the World Cup demanded it.

India's last 10 ODIsOldest first
  1. LSouth AfricaLost by 3 wickets v South Africa, 2025-10-09
  2. LAustraliaLost by 3 wickets v Australia, 2025-10-12
  3. LEnglandLost by 4 runs v England, 2025-10-19
  4. WNew ZealandWon by 53 runs v New Zealand, 2025-10-23
  5. NRBangladeshNo result v Bangladesh, 2025-10-26
  6. WAustraliaWon by 5 wickets v Australia, 2025-10-30
  7. WSouth AfricaWon by 52 runs v South Africa, 2025-11-02
  8. LAustraliaLost by 6 wickets v Australia, 2026-02-24
  9. LAustraliaLost by 5 wickets v Australia, 2026-02-27
  10. LAustraliaLost by 185 runs v Australia, 2026-03-01

Runs after the handover

Kaur takes a career ODI batting average of 39.62 across 101 innings into life after the captaincy. That is a substantial body of batting, and her recent work keeps her central to India’s top order.

Our ratings place her 17th among 50 women’s ODI batters, worth 4.42 runs a match more than an average player. She made 53 from 84 balls and 54 from 70 balls in the February defeats against Australia. India lost both matches, yet Kaur still gave the innings some substance while the side around her fell short.

The captaincy moves on. Her place in the batting order should not.

More on Oddsworth

Share