Smriti Mandhana is the new captain of India’s women’s cricket team, ending Harmanpreet Kaur’s decade-long reign. Here is why the change happened. India’s group-stage exit at the T20 World Cup in England in June was the second early exit in a row. The BCCI held a review meeting in Guwahati and decided on a leadership change. Harmanpreet then resigned from the captaincy across all formats. She led India in 5 Tests, 51 ODIs and 155 T20Is, and won the ODI World Cup last year plus Asian Games gold. Mandhana, 30, was the natural successor. She has two Women’s Premier League titles and starred in the Asian Games gold run. Her first assignment is the white-ball series against Zimbabwe starting October 16 in Raipur. Shafali Verma will be her deputy in T20Is, and Deepti Sharma in ODIs. Harmanpreet stays in the squad as a player. The change marks a generational shift, with the BCCI backing a younger core for the next World Cup cycle.