Not Smriti Mandhana! Mithali Raj Wants 24-Year-Old Star To Replace Harmanpreet Kaur As India Captain

Former Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj wants 24-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues to replace Harmanpreet Kaur as captain of the Indian team. Harmanpreet’s future as Indian captain is up in the air after Women in Blue failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the United Arab Emirates. It has been reported by Indian Express on Tuesday that BCCI is all set to take call on Harman’s captaincy future before the start of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand later this month.

“The BCCI will certainly discuss whether to have a new captain on board going ahead. The Indian board has provided everything that the team wanted, and we feel it’s high time a new face leads the team going ahead. Harmanpreet will continue to be an important member of the team, but the BCCI feels it’s time for transition,” a source was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

Mithali, who is India’s joint-leading run scorer in Women’s T20 World Cup history, also feels it is the right time to change the captain.

“It’s up to BCCI and the selectors to take a call, but if they are looking to change, this would be the ideal time because if you delay more, then we have another World Cup on the horizon (two years). If you are not doing it now, then don’t do it later. Then it is too close to the World Cup,” she was quoted as saying by PTI.

But instead of Harman’s deputy, Smriti Mandhana, she has proposed Jemimah’s candidature. According to her, Jemimah is young, and she can serve longer than Smriti.

“Smriti is there, of course, and can be a choice to consider for the selectors, but I personally think someone like Jemimah—she’s 24, she’s young, she will serve you longer in the T20s, and she’s someone who I feel on the field gets that energy. She speaks to everybody. I was very impressed by her in this tournament,” Mithali said.

“Despite playing those cameo roles, she never could convert her starts, but she is someone who really made an effort to build momentum if there was no momentum, and if there was momentum, she tried to carry that momentum,” Mithali added.

Since making her debut against South Africa on February 13, 2018, Jemimah has played in 104 T20Is so far and has 2142 runs to her name.