It is time to drop Harmanpreet Kaur: Diana Edulji

Former India captain Diana Edulji has slammed Harmanpreet Kaur’s poor run of form in international cricket, saying it’s time to dismiss the star batter from the starting XI. Harmanpreet has only two 50-plus scores since the 2017 World Cup in England when India reached the final, but he has been a consistent component of the squad.

Diana Edulji, speaking to the PTI, stated that Harmanpreet cannot survive on the 171 she made in the 2017 World Cup semi-final and that the team must make a difficult decision, emphasizing that the yardsticks for all players must be the same. Edulji mentioned Jemimah Rodrigues, who has not been to New Zealand for the limited-overs series and the Women’s World Cup in March after being shunned by the selectors owing to poor form.

Harmanpreet struggled with fitness last year, but following a strong WBBL campaign, she was expected to reproduce it at the top level. The 32-year-old has scored 20 runs in two One-Day Internationals against New Zealand, following scoring 12 in a one-off T20I.

India hasn’t opened an account in the ODI series against New Zealand. They lost the one-off T20I and are off to a bad start in the five-match ODI series. She has failed to fire in the bilateral match against New Zealand, and India is on the verge of losing another series.

“If you are thinking about applying the same standards that were used to remove Jemimah Rodrigues, as coach Ramesh Powar indicated, then you should also drop Harmanpreet,” Edulji said.  

I am quite disappointed in her. She was my favorite player, but you can’t live on a single inning (171 against Australia in 2017). She is only one inning away from a huge score, but she must put in the effort.

Edulji further stated that if Mithali Raj retires, Smirti Mandhana should take over as India captain in all three forms. Mithali is expected to retire following the Women’s World Cup next month.

Smriti, who was under controlled isolation and quarantine in Christchurch for a lengthy period, has rejoined the rest of the team in Queenstown. She missed the lone T20I as well as the first two ODIs.

Smriti is the most likely candidate for the captaincy after Mithali, while Harman has underperformed. I wouldn’t mind if Harman was benched in the next match. Sneh Rana is a suitable candidate for her “Edulji, he added.