Mandhana's first game as India captain comes against Zimbabwe in Raipur

Smriti Mandhana walks out as India’s full-time captain for the first time on Friday, when India women open a three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe in Raipur. It is the first bilateral series the two sides have played.

Mandhana was named captain across all formats on 6 October, the same day Harmanpreet Kaur gave up the job. “To be given the responsibility of leading India is a very special honour,” Mandhana said when the change was announced.

She is no stranger to the role. As Harmanpreet’s long-time deputy she had already led India in 18 T20Is and four ODIs, and she has won the Women’s Premier League twice as captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru. She also arrives as the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket, having recently passed Mithali Raj, with 18 international hundreds.

Harmanpreet stays on

Harmanpreet announced her decision on Instagram. “Today, I step down as captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team across all formats,” she wrote. “Now, I’m ready to play for the love of the game again. Captaincy ends. The journey continues.”

She leaves a long record behind her: 5 Tests, 51 ODIs and 155 T20Is as captain, the first Women’s World Cup title in November 2025, and back-to-back Asian Games golds. Her final match in charge was last month’s Asian Games final in Aichi-Nagoya, where India beat Sri Lanka by 147 runs after making 216 for 3, with Mandhana scoring 79 and Shafali Verma 67.

Harmanpreet is in both the T20I and ODI squads for Zimbabwe. On Thursday she and the team were in New Delhi, where she presented a signed jersey to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the felicitation of the Asian Games contingent.

“Fearless, with smartness”

Shafali, Mandhana’s vice-captain in T20Is, set out the plan before the opener. “We have to play a fearless brand of cricket with smartness until the Champions Trophy,” she said. “We have done a lot of meetings, so everyone knows what to do.”

She was generous about the former captain. “Harman provided a lot of growth to women’s cricket and the way it has shaped, it is all because of her,” Shafali said.

Jemimah Rodrigues misses the series as she recovers from injury, and Niki Prasad comes into the T20I squad. “Jemi is recovering, but in the Asia Cup and the Asian Games, we did not feel much,” Shafali said. Deepti Sharma is vice-captain for the ODIs.

The schedule

All three T20Is are in Raipur, on 16, 18 and 20 October. The teams then move to Vadodara for three ODIs on 23, 25 and 28 October. The bigger target is the ICC Women’s Champions Trophy in February.

India’s T20I squad: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Shafali Verma, Niki Prasad, Harmanpreet Kaur, Anushka Sharma, Richa Ghosh, G Kamalini, Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Sree Charani, Nandni Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Jintimani Kalita, Minnu Mani.