Harmanpreet Kaur

Hailed as one of the most powerful and charismatic leaders in women’s cricket, Harmanpreet Kaur blends fearless batting with tactical captaincy. A middle-order batter known for her big-hitting flair and a handy off-spin option, she brings intensity and swagger every time she walks out to bat—or leads from the front as captain.

Harmanpreet’s rise began in her home state of Punjab, where she broke into senior domestic cricket in 2007, building her reputation with aggressive batting and useful part-time off-spin. Her dominance in the domestic circuit eventually led to moves to powerhouse teams like Railways before she took on captaincy and leading roles for Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League, with her domestic grit laying the foundation for her meteoric rise.

She burst onto the international scene in March 2009, when she made her ODI debut against Pakistan during the Women’s World Cup, immediately showing her knack for impactful bowling and fielding in pressure scenarios. That June, she stepped onto the T20I stage against England in Taunton, rapidly becoming known for big-hitting fireworks. Kaur played his maiden Test against England in 2014. Her breakout moment came in the 2017 World Cup semi-final, smashing an unforgettable unbeaten 171 against Australia - a knock still revered as one of women’s cricket’s most iconic innings. She also received the Arjuna Award for cricket in that year. The following year, she became the first woman to score a T20I hundred, when she scored 103 against the Kiwis in the 2018 T20 Women’s World Cup. Over the years, she has featured in multiple ICC tournaments, including the 2017, 2022, and upcoming 2025 World Cups while leading India to key finals, medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games, and numerous records. She also led India to the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup final against India in front of a record MCG crowd. By mid-2025, she had amassed over 4,000 ODI runs and 3,600 plus T20I runs, and in England, she became the first visiting batter to score three ODI centuries on a single tour.

Harmanpreet’s franchise journey has been stellar. She became the first Indian woman to be signed by an overseas T20 franchise when she joined Sydney Thunder in 2016–17 - a move that broke ground and set the tone for her global franchise presence. She also plied her trade for Surrey Stars and Melbourne Renegades across leagues like the WBBL and KSL. She won the WBBL Player of the tournament award for the 2021-22 season, becoming the first player who was not from Australia or New Zealand to achieve that feat. Back home, as captain of Mumbai Indians in WPL, she led them to the inaugural title in 2023, starred again in 2024 with 268 runs, and by 2025 had crossed the 8,000-run mark in T20s while remaining the heartbeat of MI’s campaign, mixing leadership with match-defining performances.

She will now lead the Indian national team in the upcoming ODI World Cup to be held in India and this could well be a career-defining tournament for the talismanic Indian skipper.