Disappointed Mithali Raj calls for India Women's captaincy change

Former India Women’s captain Mithali Raj is unhappy with the Indian Women's performances in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the United Arab Emirates. 

Harmanpreet Kaur-led India Women disappointed in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, where they finished in the third place of Group A with four points after four matches. They ultimately failed to qualify for the semifinals. 

India Women started the tournament with a massive 58-run defeat against New Zealand Women. While the White Ferns scored 160 runs, India Women only managed to score 102 runs. 

Although India Women comfortably beat Pakistan Women and Sri Lanka Women by six wickets and 82 runs, respectively, they suffered a close nine-run defeat against the six-time champions Australia Women.

Since 2016, Harmanpreet Kaur has been leading the Indian team. While she has already led India Women in four Women’s T20 World Cups, the latest tournament has seen the worst performances. In three previous tournaments, India Women qualified at least for the semifinals, including finishing as the runners-up in the 2020 edition. 

I would go for a young captain: Mithali Raj

Mithali Raj feels that the Indian team needs a young captain, and it is the right time to change the leadership.  

Raj told PTI, "If the selectors decide to change, I would go for a young captain. This is the time [to change]; if you delay more then we have another [ODI] World Cup on the horizon [October 2025]. If you are not doing it now, then don't do it later. Then it is too close to the World Cup.

Smriti Mandhana has been playing the vice-captain role since 2016. However, Raj feels that Jemimah Rodrigues will be a better captaincy option due to her young age. The former India Women’s captain is very impressed with the 24-year-old middle-order batter. 

Raj said, "Smriti is there but I think someone like Jemimah [Rodrigues], she's 24, she's young, she will serve you more. And [she] is someone who I feel on the field gets that energy. She speaks to everybody. I was very impressed by her in this tournament.”

While Kaur was the leading run-scorer for India Women in the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup with 150 runs in four innings, including two half-centuries, Rodrigues played some cameo roles with the bat. 

Raj continued her support for Rodrigues, "Despite playing those cameo roles, she never could convert her starts, but [she is] someone who really made an effort to build a momentum if there was no momentum; and if there was momentum, she tried to carry that momentum [forward]."

We were not quick enough to adjust

While the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup has been playing on slow pitches in the United Arab Emirates, Raj blamed India’s failure to adjust the conditions. 

Raj claimed, "Surprisingly, we took time to adjust to the slowness of the wicket. Unlike an ODI World Cup, it is a short tournament, you don't have a lot of time to adjust to the conditions. Someone like [New Zealand captain] Sophie Devine was able to score that many runs [57 not out] against us and she is not used to playing on slow tracks. We were not quick enough to adjust."

I've not really seen any growth in this team: Mithali Raj

Raj is also disappointed with the slow growth in Indian women’s cricket in recent years. 

The former Indian captain said, "I feel that in the last two-three years, I've not really seen any growth in this team. In the sense, like, I mean, beating the best side is what you always prepare for, but it seems like we are saturated in the sense we are beating other teams, and we are pretty happy in that. Every other team has shown growth despite limited depth, a case in point being South Africa. We have not."

Raj believed that India should experiment with the bench against the lower-ranked teams in the recent Asia Cup. Talking about it, she brought up the example of the Indian men’s team process. 

Raj continued, "It didn't seem like it was anywhere closer to... what we got to see in the World Cup. We could have given more opportunities to the bench against lower-ranked teams in Asia Cup, but we didn't. Why does the men's team do well? Immediately after a big series or a big tournament, they try others. If we are talking about depth, then when are we giving them chances?"