India women's team first ODI captain, Diana Edulji has delivered a blunt verdict after Harmanpreet Kaur-led side's early exit from the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 in England. Losses to Australia and South Africa hurt India as they couldn't make it to the semifinals. In the aftermath, Edulji wants the selectors to look beyond Harmanpreet and head coach Amol Muzumdar for the T20I format.
"I think we should look beyond Harman. Though she is my favourite player and I've always supported her, I think we need to move on, at least in the T20Is. Let her continue as a player and think about a new captain," Edulji told Cricbuzz.
"We should have someone with a few better ideas, especially in terms of strategy. Also, bowling changes - there's a lot more that goes into the captaincy. I think she's stagnated now."
Edulji calls for reforms
Edulji has served as a member of the BCCI's Committee of Administrators. She is currently an advisor to Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). She feels that the Amita Mishra-led selection committee missed an opportunity by continuing with Harmanpreet as India's captain in T20Is for the Asian Games 2026 as well. She wonders why the selection committee can’t take a brave call like the men’s committee headed by Ajit Agarkar. She pointed out that Suryakumar Yadav was sacked as T20I captain even after India’s T20 World Cup 2026 triumph.
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Edulji is aware that the 37-year-old Harmanpreet intends to play T20I cricket at least till the Los Angeles Olympics 2028. But, the 70-year-old who led India in 18 ODIs and four Tests, believes that Harmanpreet needs to be more aggressive like she was in the clash against Australia, hitting three sixes in the final over.
Edulji has also called for a change in coaching staff. She wants head coach Amol Muzumdar to continue in the ODI format but not in T20Is. She slammed fielding coach Munish Bali as India dropped as many as 11 dropped catches in the group stage matches.
Moving forward, she doesn't want same set of players to play in ODIs and T20Is. She has called for reforms, T20 speciallists to get a run instead of repeating players. She wants the coaching staff and players to step out of their comfort zones. In addition, she wants workload of players to be distributed upon observation that playing in all formats is taking a toll on a few players' fitness.