When Harmanpreet Kaur ran back to complete the final catch of India’s 2025 World Cup triumph, there was something fitting about the image. The captain who had carried Indian women’s cricket through years of expectation was there at the finish, taking the catch that confirmed the moment India had waited for.

But her legacy is bigger than that trophy.

Harmanpreet leaves captaincy, having raised India’s expectations of itself. Before her, India had reached the ODI World Cup final in 2005 and 2017 under Mithali Raj. Under Harmanpreet, India became regulars at the business end of major tournaments – the 2018 T20 World Cup semifinal, the 2020 T20 World Cup final, the 2023 T20 World Cup semifinal and, eventually, the 2025 ODI World Cup title at home.

Renewed belief

Her biggest contribution was renewed belief.

She took over when Indian women’s cricket was growing, but was still searching for consistency and belief. At the 2018 T20 World Cup, her first major tournament as captain, she announced herself with a 103 against New Zealand. It was a statement about the kind of captain she would be; aggressive, expressive and unafraid of the big stage.

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That intensity stayed with her. Harmanpreet was emotional, vocal and sometimes combative. Her batting, however, became less consistent as the years went by. Her strike rate was also a concern. The Harmanpreet who could win a match from almost anywhere showed up less often.

 

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But she continued to produce when India needed her most.

In the 2025 World Cup semifinal against Australia, with India chasing a record total, Harmanpreet made 89 and helped keep the chase alive alongside Jemimah Rodrigues. A year later, in a must-win T20 World Cup game against Australia, she made 56 off 27, hitting three sixes in the final over to take India to a competitive total. Those innings gave reminders of the player India will now want to see more often.

In her farewell post, Harmanpreet acknowledged the cost of captaincy herself. “There were moments when I had to put my individual performance, my own growth, and what I wanted for myself aside, because I believed the team had to come first,” she wrote. She said every difficult decision was made with one intention — “to make this TEAM better and to give other players the opportunity to grow”.

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That is an important part of her legacy. She leaves behind a team in which Smriti Mandhana has found stability, Deepti Sharma has become a central figure, and younger players such as N Sree Charani have emerged with confidence.

Most importantly, she leaves behind a team that has won the World Cup and now knows what it feels like to be there. Harmanpreet wrote that she leaves captaincy with “a heart full of emotions, but also with PEACE” because she believes the team is in a good place.

And perhaps the most interesting line was saved for the end: “Now, I’m ready to play for the love of the game again.”

That is what Indian cricket will hope for. Without the burden of captaincy, Harmanpreet can now focus on being the batter who can change a game. As captain, she had to think about the team first. Now she can focus more on her own cricket.

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She says she has “done her duty”. She leaves the next captain with more than a World Cup trophy. She leaves a team that believes it can compete on the biggest stages.

That is why the shoes are big. “Captaincy ends. The journey continues,” Harmanpreet wrote. For Indian cricket, the hope is that the next chapter brings back the player who made everyone believe.