BATHINDA: Two weeks after winning a gold medal at the Asian Games and 11 months after leading the Indian women’s cricket team to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup title, Harmanpreet Kaur of Dunneke village in Moga district of Punjab stepped down as captain of the Indian team across all formats on Tuesday.When she announced her decision to step down from the captaincy, no one was at her native home in Dunneke, the village that had celebrated her achievements twice in a big way in less than a year.Harmanpreet used to accompany her father, Harmandar Singh, to the playground in the village as a teenager and never hesitated to play with the boys, as there were no other girls on the ground to accompany her.“It is due to the sweat and toil put by her since the childhood that she could reach such a stage when the entire nation was calling her daughter and sister while feeling proud of her and the entire team,” Harmandar Singh had said after the Indian team won the gold medal at the Asian Games on September 22.On Tuesday, when Harmanpreet announced her decision to step down, he was not available for comment.“The village residents are elated over her splendid performance as a player and as a captain even as she decided to step down as captain. We are proud of Harmanpreet Kaur as she took the name of the village to the international levels. The village will keep on feeling proud till she represents the country in the game and even after that in any other capacity,” said village resident Jarnail Singh.Another resident, Kamaljit Singh, said that after she was selected for the Indian team in 2009 at the age of 20, she never looked back and took the team to dizzying heights with her performance.The village will remain indebted to her for putting its name on the map nationally and internationally.In a long post on her Instagram account, Harmanpreet wrote:“Today, I step down as captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team across all formats. This is not an easy decision. It carries years of memories, emotions, sacrifices, and moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life.I have given everything I had to this team and to Indian women’s cricket — my blood, my sweat, my time, and many times, a part of my own game and personal ambitions. There were moments when I had to put my individual performance, my own growth, and what I wanted for myself aside, because I believed the team had to come first.As a captain, I have had to make difficult decisions. Decisions that were not always understood, not always easy, and sometimes came at a personal cost.But every decision I made was with one intention – to make this team better and to give other players the opportunity to grow, believe in themselves and become the best versions of themselves.I have seen it all. I have seen the lowest moments, the heartbreak, the criticism, the doubts and the days when nothing seemed to go our way. And I have also experienced the highest highs – the victories, the celebrations, the pride of representing our country, and the moments that made every sacrifice worth it.I leave the captaincy today with a heart full of emotions, but also with peace.Because I genuinely believe my team is in a good place. A team with talent, character, belief and a future that I am incredibly excited to watch and be a part of.I feel I have done my duty. I gave this team everything I had. I carried the responsibility with pride, and I will always be grateful for the privilege of leading Indian women’s cricket.Now, it is time for me to turn the page. Captaincy may end today, but my love for Indian cricket never will. Thank you to every teammate, coach, support staff, management, BCCI , family members and every single fan who stood by me through the highs and lows.Blood, sweat, sacrifice, pride, I gave it all, now I’m ready to play for the love of the game again. Captaincy ends, the journey continues.”
