She has been such a great leader: Smriti Mandhana on Harmanpreet Kaur

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Smriti Mandhana will make her first appearance as Team India’s full-time captain during the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe.

Earlier, long-serving skipper Harmanpreet Kaur stepped down from the position. She announced the decision by sharing a post on her official social media handle. Following the decision, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Mandhana as the full-time skipper of the “Women in Blue” across all formats of the game.

Ahead of the series, Mandhana heaped praise on Kaur by saying that she has been a great leader and is an inspiring figure for a lot of youngsters.

“She’s led India, she’s the longest-serving captain, and has been such a great leader. So I’m sure that her experience, especially with a lot of youngsters coming into the team now, and the way she works towards the game, is going to be inspiring for a lot of people,” she said on JioStar.

The skipper also added that it will be important to have Kaur around as it will help the young players to groom and learn things from her.

“I hope they actually watch her, the way she goes about preparing for the game, and learn and take a lot of things from her. So, it’s going to be extremely important to have her around the youngsters for them to also groom in a way where sometimes it happens a year or two earlier when you watch someone and start learning from them,” added Mandhana.

Harmanpreet Kaur’s international career statistics

So far in international cricket, Harmanpreet has represented India in eight Test matches and has smashed 304 runs, with a top score of 69 runs. She also has two half-centuries to her name.

The right-handed batswoman has also featured in 164 ODI matches and has garnered 4,541 runs. Her top score in the format is an unbeaten 171 runs, including 24 half-centuries and seven tons.

The 37-year-old cricketer has donned the Indian T20I colours in 210 games. She has accumulated 4,346 runs, with the help of 18 half-centuries and a century.

While she has stepped down from her captaincy duties in top-flight cricket, the Punjab-born cricketer has made no mention of the captaincy in franchise cricket.

So far, Kaur has smashed 1,193 runs in 35 appearances for the Mumbai-based franchise. She is also the second-highest run-scorer for the franchise, with Nat Sciver-Brunt enjoying the top spot with 1348 runs.

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