Harmanpreet Kaur steps down as India captain across all three formats

Harmanpreet Kaur's time leading India began with the T20 side in 2016. According to The Hindu, the 37-year-old held that captaincy for a decade.

Her responsibilities expanded in stages. She became ODI captain in 2022, then India's all-format leader in 2023, The Hindu reported.

On October 6, 2026, BBC Cricket reported that Kaur had left the national captaincy across all three formats of international cricket. This is a complete departure from the leadership role, rather than a handover in just one format.

Kaur said the decision was not easy but felt she had fulfilled her responsibilities, according to Times of India. Its headline quoted her saying: "I have done my duty."

She leaves as a World Cup-winning captain, as Sky Sports described her in its report on the resignation. The supplied coverage does not give details of that tournament.

Her tenure also included an exceptional volume of T20 international leadership. According to Al Jazeera, Kaur is the only man or woman to have captained a side in more than 150 T20 internationals.

Kaur has relinquished the captaincy in every international format. BBC Cricket described her departure as leaving the captain's role, not as retirement from international cricket.

The supplied reports do not identify her replacement. They also do not say whether India will appoint one captain for all three formats or divide the responsibility.

The immediate open question is who takes over, and whether the same player will lead across formats. No appointment timetable appears in the supplied coverage.

Kaur's role as a batter is another point to follow. Indian Express argued that stepping away from captaincy would boost her as a match-winning batter. That is an assessment of what could follow, not an outcome established by these reports.