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JANUARY 02, 2026 | The Indian Eye 30

SPORTS STARS OF 2025

Harmanpreet Kaur: The Captain Who

Changed Indian Women’s Cricket

In 2025, Harmanpreet Kaur crowned a career of resilience by leading India to its

first Women’s World Cup title and redefining leadership in the global game.

he year 2025 will be remem- eventual triumph, advised patience
bered as the moment Indian and control.
Twomen’s cricket finally crossed “The night before the match,
its most formidable frontier, and at the Sachin sir called,” Harmanpreet
heart of that breakthrough stood Har- recalled later. “He shared his ex-
manpreet Kaur. At 36, battle-hard- perience and asked us to keep our
ened by defeats and near-misses, she balance. When the game is going
emerged as the captain who delivered fast, just slow it down a little.” The
India’s maiden ICC Women’s World message resonated deeply. In the fi-
Cup title—and in doing so, secured nal, India resisted panic, allowing the
her place among the great leaders the moment to come to them rather than
sport has known. forcing it.
The defining image of India’s tri- That capacity to slow the game
umph came at the Dr DY Patil Sta- down has defined Harmanpreet’s
dium in Navi Mumbai. As South Af- captaincy. Whether in T20 cricket
rica pushed desperately in the final, or the longer World Cup format, she
Harmanpreet completed the catch has emphasized composure under
of Nadine de Klerk to seal a 52-run pressure. Her teams have reflected
victory. It was a quiet, composed mo- that temperament—disciplined in
ment, but one that carried the weight the field, adaptable with the bat, and
of years of unfulfilled promise. For increasingly confident in crunch situ-
Harmanpreet, it was redemption; for ations.
Indian cricket, it was history. Equally significant is what Har-
That World Cup win was not an manpreet’s success represents be-
isolated peak but part of a remarkable yond the boundary. As the first Indian
year of leadership. Earlier in 2025, captain to lift a Women’s World Cup,
Harmanpreet became the most suc- she shattered a psychological barrier
cessful captain in women’s T20 inter- that had long separated Indian wom-
nationals, surpassing former Australia en’s cricket from its ultimate goal.
skipper Meg Lanning. She achieved Her achievement validated years of
the milestone after India’s emphatic investment, struggle, and quiet prog-
eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in ress in the women’s game.
the third T20I at Thiruvananthapu- In 2025, Harmanpreet did more
ram. With 77 wins in 130 matches, than win trophies. She redefined
she went past Lanning’s 76 wins in what sustained leadership looks like
100 games, also becoming the wom- in women’s cricket—longevity with-
an to lead a team in the most T20Is. out stagnation, authority without ri-
The numbers are imposing. En- gidity. Leading India in 130 T20Is is a
gland’s Heather Knight and Char- Cups, collecting experience but also a captain who understood the rhythm testament to trust, resilience, and an
lotte Edwards trail behind with 71 heartbreak. The most haunting of of big tournaments and the psycholo- ability to evolve with the game.
and 68 wins respectively. But statistics those moments came in the 2017 final gy of pressure. For a generation of young crick-
alone do not explain Harmanpreet’s against England, when India fell ago- Harmanpreet’s leadership style eters, Harmanpreet Kaur is no longer
impact. What sets her apart is the way nizingly short. That loss lingered, not as is rooted in balance. She leads from just a power-hitter or a senior profes-
she carried India through a period of bitterness, but as unfinished business. the front when required, but equally sional. She is the captain who stayed
transition—bridging generations, ab- Eight years later, the circle fi- trusts her players to take ownership. the course, learned from defeat, and
sorbing pressure, and turning belief nally closed. The 2025 World Cup That approach was evident in her finally delivered the prize that had
into consistency. became Harmanpreet’s redemption recollection of the night before the eluded Indian women’s cricket for
Her journey to the World Cup arc—proof that leadership matures final, when a phone call from Sachin decades. In the story of India’s World
crown was long and often painful. Be- not only through success, but through Tendulkar helped steady the team’s Cup triumph, her name will stand not
fore 2025, Harmanpreet had played endurance. This time, India played nerves. Tendulkar, himself famil- just at the top of the scorecard, but at
in four ICC Women’s Cricket World with clarity and control, hallmarks of iar with World Cup heartbreak and the center of history itself.

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