It is time for Harmanpreet Kaur to review her captaincy: Shantha Rangaswamy

Every big defeat comes with a cost and after her team faltered at the final hurdle in the T20 World Cup against Australia in Melbourne on Sunday, captain Harmanpreet Kaur has come under the scanner. Former India captain Shantha Rangaswamy has even said that it is time Kaur takes a call on the future of her captaincy for she is more important as a batswoman than the leader. A veteran of over 100 T20Is and 99 ODIs, Kaur had a quiet World Cup with the bat.

Another former India captain Diana Edulji also called for “introspection” after the 85-run defeat in the final while former Indian women’s team coach Tushar Arothe criticized the decision to send Tania Bhatia at No.3 in the final when India were chasing a competitive target of 185. Tania got retired hurt for only two.

“I am very disappointed that such high calibre batters like Smriti, Jemimah, Harman did not click at all. It was a consistent failure of Harman, Smriti, Jemimah and Veda,” 66-year-old Shantha said as quoted by Outlook India.

“Shafali was the only one who made significant contributions while the others just chipped in which is not good enough to win a world title,” she added. Shafali Verma, who has been a consistent performer in the tournament, fell for only two in the title clash.

Harmanpreet Kaur led India till semis in 2018 T20 World Cup

Harmanpreet led India in the T20 World Cup for the second time after the 2018 edition in the West Indies. On that occasion, India lost to England in the semi-final by eight wickets and their decision to drop the experienced Mithali Raj for the key match snowballed into a major controversy after the loss. This time, Kaur’s scores in the tournament read 4, 15, 1, 8 and 2.

“I am sure she will know when to give up captaincy and it is time for her to review her captaincy. She is a mature person because she definitely is needed in the team much more as a batter than captain, especially in T20s,” Shantha said.

“It is worth pondering over. With new selectors, new thinktank coming in after the World Cup (this can be reviewed),” she added.

“Let us not be too harsh on them. They had a good run. We broke the semifinals jinx. The loss has shown that T20 is not our forte, our forte is ODI cricket,” the 64-year-old Diana said.

“It is time for good some introspection on the strengths and weaknesses and put it into practice because the 50 over World Cup is just around the corner (next year),” said Diana, who served as a member of the Committee of Administrators that ran the BCCI till recently, added.

Arothe, who was the team’s coach when it lost to England in the 50-over World Cup final in 2017, said, “You cannot send Tania Bhatia at number three as she isn’t a big hitter. If you wanted to take advantage of first six overs, send a hitter.”