Will Harmanpreet continue as India captain? Indian coach opens up after exiting T20 World Cup

India head coach Amol Muzumdar has backed Harmanpreet Kaur to continue as captain despite India’s early exit from the Women’s T20 World Cup. On Sunday, June 28 India suffered a six-wicket defeat to Sophie Molineux’s Australia in their first ever Women’s T20I at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.

After the match, Muzumdar was asked if India would stick with Harmanpreet as captain. While he said the final decision rests with the voters, the former India home stalwart backed the veteran to continue leading the party.

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“You expect Harmanpreet to remain captain,” the journalist added.

“It is up to the selectors to decide on the captain. My short and sweet answer would be yes,” Muzumdar said at the post-match press conference.

MUZUMDAR NOTES INDIA’S AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT

Muzumdar said India needed to improve their bowling and fielding while adopting a more aggressive batting approach after their semi-final. He admitted that the team could have scored an extra 15-20 runs against Australia, but expressed confidence that the inexperienced bowling attack would develop into a much stronger unit over the next 18 months.

“If I had to identify key areas from the whole tournament, I think we need to really work on our bowling and fielding. We also need to be a bit more aggressive with the bat. Maybe we could have had an extra 15-20 runs as a cushion,” Muzumdar said.

However, if you look at our bowling attack, it is still very inexperienced at the international level. I have also said it before, give us 18 months and this bowling attack will be completely different,” added Muzumdar.

India started their campaign with convincing wins over Pakistan and the Netherlands before suffering their first defeat against South Africa in Manchester. They kept their semi-final hopes alive by beating Bangladesh at Old Trafford. However, in a must-win clash with Australia, India were bowled out at 170 for four, but the Aussies chased down the target with five balls to spare and knocked Harmanpreet Kaur’s side out of the tournament.

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Issued by:

sabyasachi chowdhury

Published on:

June 29, 2026 0:35 AM IST