It’s time to name Smriti Mandhan as the captain of the Indian team in all three formats: Diana Edulji

Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana MUMBAI: Former India captain Diana Edulji feels it is time to appoint vice-captain and superstar batsman Smriti Mandhana as the captain of the Indian women’s team “in all three formats of the game.”Mandhana became the top run-getter in women’s internationals on her way to her hundred (124) at the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup against Hong Kong in Dubai on Thursday. She surpassed former Indian women’s captain Mithali Raj’s record of 10,868 runs. Mandhana also broke the record for most centuries (18) in international cricket, the most by any batsman in the women’s game, surpassing Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt, who have 17 apiece. Mandhana has two hundreds in T20Is, two in Tests and 14 in ODIs. The elegant left-hander has over 93 fifty-plus scores across formats of international cricket, the most by any batsman alongside Raj.It was also Mandhana’s second T20I hundred, making the 30-year-old the first Indian to score multiple centuries in the shortest format of the game.“Congratulations to Smriti Mandhana for becoming a leading player in women’s internationals. I feel it is high time that the women’s national selection committee headed by Amita Sharma appoints Smriti as the new captain in all three formats of the game. Harmanpreet Kaur can continue to play as a senior player in the team,” Edulji said while talking to TOI.Explaining the reasons behind him becoming the captain, Edulji said, “All I’m saying is that Harman is in her late 30s (37). When would you like her to give up the captaincy and give it to Smriti who has just entered her 30s (30). I don’t want Harman to be dropped from the Indian team. I think she still doesn’t feel bad about her Harman.” she took the pressure off the captaincy and let herself focus only on her batting as Harman’s form is key for our team to win more championships. It’s very important that someone scores in the middle order because we can’t depend on the right level all the time. Now let Smriti take it from here, she has a long journey (as captain), at least give her a white-ball captain for now and maybe Harman can continue as a Test captain.”“After a few years, Smriti will be in her late 30s; then what will we do? Who will we train (to captain India) then? Right now we can have Jemimah (Rodrigues) or Shafali (Varma) as vice-captain and train them (for more responsibility),” Edulji said.“Well deserved Smriti! I have watched you grow from a young player to one of the best batsmen India has produced. To see you break my record to become the highest run scorer in international cricket is a moment I am truly proud of. Here’s to many more runs and milestones. Keep it up!,” Mithali wrote on ‘X’ on Thursday.Under the leadership of 37-year-old Harmanpreet, the Women-in-Blue secured their maiden ODI World Cup victory last year, but made their second consecutive appearance in the group stage of the Women’s World T20 Cup. However, they beat England by 270 runs in the historic one-off Test at Lord’s. The national selectors have shown faith in Harmanpreet by retaining her as India’s captain for the ongoing Asia Cup in Dubai and the Asian Games in Japan in September.In an exclusive interview with TOI on July 14, when asked if she was ready for the Indian captaincy, Mandhana said, “Yes, of course, I am ready!”After the Indian league ended for the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, India head coach Amol Muzumdar was asked about Harmanpreet’s future and said that he would like to see her as captain. “It’s up to the selectors to decide on the captain. I think so, my short and sweet answer would be yes,” Muzumdar stated.