Anjum Chopra backs Harmanpreet as India's best long-term captain choice

New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) Since the time Harmanpreet Kaur took over as captain of the Indian team in T20Is in 2017, 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup marked the first time of the side not entering the semi-finals under her leadership.

With an ODI World Cup at home next year, followed by another T20 World Cup in England in 2026, the chatter around Harmanpreet’s future as the Indian team skipper has been huge. But former India captain Anjum Chopra thinks Harmanpreet is still the best person to lead the side.

“You don't just make a leader; you prepare a leader. I know for sure that in this present Indian team other than Harmanpreet Kaur, there is no leader at present. Can be, will be, of course, Harmanpreet will not remain at the helm. She will not play cricket forever. There will be a leader, but as of now, Harmanpreet as the Indian captain is the best bet and she should be persisted with.”

“There will always be questions on the leader. I think she answered it with her captaincy as well. She answered it with her bat as well. The only thing she expected was a little bit of assistance and help from others which actually didn't come through. So this is just a deflection away from what the main challenges need to be addressed,” said Anjum in an exclusive conversation with IANS from Dubai.

She also further spoke about why changing a leader will not instantly bring the desired change in fortunes of the Indian team. “I don't believe in any of this just floating around and somebody just puts a spark, then the fire rises and somebody else douses at fire. I don't personally believe in all this.”

“When a team has done well, we always look at heads where we can put that title on ‘because of this person, it happened’. But when we lose something, we identify those heads where it needs to be chopped off. So I don't personally never get into it. I probably ask all those people who feel actually a leadership change will change the scenario of the present Indian team – brilliant, excellent.”

“If that is the thought maybe, like changing captaincy is the scenario or challenge, I don't think the present captain will say fine, I will not step down if this team can become a world champion. But we all know heart of hearts that is not the problem. We are just trying to identify a problem which is actually not there and make it into a subject away from the focus areas which need to be addressed.”

“So captaincy is not the area that needs to be addressed. It's the performance of players, skill of those players individually which needs to be addressed. If 11 individuals do their job, individually in a correct manner, collectively the Indian team will most likely tend to win and end up on a good side, not the other side.”

India doesn’t have much time to brood over the group-stage exit of the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE. They return back to the field next week for playing three ODIs against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, as part of preparation for the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup on home soil.

Anjum has asked for the Indian team to figure out their template of playing ODIs, especially with the side having played the least number of ODIs amongst all ten teams in the current ICC Women’s ODI Championship cycle.

“Everyone individually needs to go back, as there is hardly any time. We are right at the start of the season. International tournaments is one thing, but we are right at the start of the season where we will be playing in New Zealand for those three ODIs. You still want to be there as a winner (in next year’s World Cup).”

“So, how do you play the one-day format? How do you prepare for a T20 format? This game is not going to give you another opportunity. We've always aspired to have the crowd behind us, and people come into the stadiums. There has been a lot of efforts from the administrators, world over bodies who probably tried to get the women's game to this platform.”

“In the UAE, when was it that we thought that we'll have an India-Pakistan women's cricket match with a stadium 80% full or a Sharjah stadium 99% full for an India-Australian game. So if the game has developed, I guess the onus is also on individual players to up their standard and skill level.”

“Because if you're short of that standard and skill level, you will be found out very quickly. Sadly, it's happened on few more than less occasions for us. If we boast of having one of the best Indian teams, the T20 world champion Indian men's cricket team, then it's a great pride for us as a cricketer, and an Indian national. We hold with great confidence that we belong to a land where our team is the World Cup winning team.”

“If one team is a World Cup winner, the other team also aspires to be that. But coming out from just words to coming into actions, there is a whole different ball game. It's not just a vision or will. Everybody aspires to become a World Cup winner, but only one can take that, while rest only try harder the next time.”

“From words to actions, it needs to translate into that. It has helped, and has come about in leaps and bounds, but there is still a huge way to travel. The slower we are getting there, the further pegged back we will become because other teams are also in that same race. So we need to speed up if you want to remain in the race,” she concluded.

--IANS

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