Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of India, is under a lot of strain right now because her team has lost two games in a row in the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025. India’s chances of making it to the semifinals are quite slim after losing to South Africa and then to Australia. India needs to win all of its remaining group-stage matches to stay in the running for a top-four finish.
Questions Arise About Harmanpreet’s Bad Form
India’s top order has been able to play well consistently, but Harmanpreet’s personal form has been a big worry. In four innings thus far, she has scored 21, 19, 9, and 22, but she hasn’t been able to anchor the middle order or provide the finishing punch that she’s known for.
Get rid of Harmanpreet Kaur as soon as possible.
— THIRD UMPIRE (@thirdumpireX) October 12, 2025
She alone is responsible for half of the problems, rarely scores never bowls but behave like Ellyse Perry. She doesn’t have any plans for Healey, bowling looking clueless.
#INDWvsAUSW #INDvsAUS
In sharp contrast, colleagues Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Richa Ghosh have all scored more than 30 points in at least one match, showing stability that the captain has had trouble finding.
Harmanpreet Kaur has been captain of the Indian women’s cricket team for 12 years. She’s done a great job but isn’t it time the selectors chose a new leader for the team? Dhoni, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar, Gill…the men’s team has had quite a few, so what’s so special about… pic.twitter.com/IduX1YGWhm
— Mohan Sinha 🇮🇳 (@Mohansinha) October 12, 2025
A group of fans resorted to social media to call for Harmanpreet’s resignation as captain after India’s campaign fell apart under her guidance. Many people were upset with her tactical choices and lack of impact with the bat at a time when India really needs veteran players to come up.
When Harmanpreet Kaur is getting sacked by BCCI who is captaining team India for more than a decade, got unlimited power & equal pay as men cricketers but didn't won shit for India in ICC tournaments??
— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) October 12, 2025
All she does is shouting at her juniors, shows unnecessory attitude to her… pic.twitter.com/pgisqMQBko
Fans are angry and posting about it online.
After India lost to Australia, people on social media were really upset. Some people said that Harmanpreet couldn’t motivate the team since her leadership wasn’t aggressive or clear about the strategy. Some people told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to think about changing leaders before the next big tournament.
Some fans pointed out that Harmanpreet’s poor form isn’t new, pointing to her uneven play in recent bilateral series as well.
Coach Amol Mazumdar Says “Dot Ball” Is a Concern
But India’s head coach, Amol Mazumdar, didn’t say anything explicitly about the captaincy dispute. Instead, he talked about the team’s bigger hitting problems, such the high dot-ball percentage that has stopped India’s innings in important chases time and time again.
Mazumdar said at the post-match press conference, “After the last game, not this one but the one before it against South Africa, we had a long talk about how we were going to approach the batting innings.”
“That was one of the things we spoke about: the dot-ball rate. We’ve been playing pretty aggressive cricket for the past year and a half, and parts of today were terrific. Yes, the percentage of dot balls has gone down, but we’ll look at it more closely. He went on to say, “I don’t know what the exact percentage is.”
India’s chances of qualifying are up in the air.
India’s next games are now like virtual knockouts. If they make another mistake, they could lose their chance to make it to the semifinals. The squad needs its older players, especially Harmanpreet, to get back in shape fast and lead from the front.
The Indian camp is talking about getting back together and staying focused, but the skipper is under a lot of public and media scrutiny, which might make things extra harder.
One of the most important parts of India’s Women’s World Cup campaign is whether or not Harmanpreet Kaur can shut down her detractors and get the team to turn things around.