Harmanpreet finding it tough, says Edulji who calls for split-captaincy

Former Indian women’s cricket team captain Diana Edulji has called for a split-captaincy system for the national team.

Edulji said it was time to move on from Harmanpreet Kaur’s captaincy in white-ball cricket, given India’s elimination in the group stage of the recent ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

“It is time to move on, at least in the captaincy part. We cannot keep Smriti (Mandhana) waiting in the wings for so long. We can ask Smriti to lead at least in the T20 format, and perhaps in 50-over too. Harmanpreet can continue in Tests. We can even have three different coaches; we don’t need one coach for all three formats,” Edulji said at the trophy unveiling ceremony of the Maharani Trophy KSCA T20 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.

“I believe Harmanpreet is finding it difficult. Her game is getting affected, so let her have a free hand as a batter. She was a great all-rounder, but then she limited herself to batting. However, now we see her batting getting affected as well. It’s been too long; we don’t have new ideas,” Edulji said.

Harmanpreet has been retained as captain for the upcoming Asian Games, a decision that Edulji disagrees with.

The ceremony was also attended by KSCA president Venkatesh Prasad, former India skipper Shantha Rangaswamy, and current India player Shreyanka Patil.

Shreyanka, who sustained an ankle injury during the T20 World Cup, mentioned that she will miss the Maharani Trophy.

The 23-year-old is on the road to recovery, and does not yet have a timeline on her return to action.