The journey of India in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup has been under many captains, as the win record of India in WT20Is displays that India has always been under great leadership for the last two decades, starting from Jhulan Goswami to Harmanpreet Kaur in 2026. And in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, Harmanpreet Kaur is set to take on the role of captaincy. The tournament is set to take place in England across 7 venues and 12 teams from 12th June 2026 to 5th July 2026.
1. Jhulan Goswami – 2009 and 2010
In the inaugural match of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2009, fast bowler Jhulan Goswami was the captain of IND-W, and in the 2009 season, India only won 2 matches throughout the tournament. The first match India won was against Pakistan on June 13, 2009, by a 5-wicket margin, and on 15th June 2009, India won by 5 wickets against Sri Lanka. India-W was eliminated in the opening group stage of the Super Eight stage.
In the second edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which was held in 2010, Jhulan Goswami was again captaining IND-W, and under her leadership, the performance of IND-W was good in the group stage as India won 2 out of 3 matches. But in the knockout stage, India lost the match by 7 wickets against Australia-W and were knocked out of the tournament.
2. Mithali Raj – 2012, 2014, and 2016
29-year-old Mithali Raj was given a golden opportunity to captain the IND-W team in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2012/13, which was the 3rd edition of the tournament, but the fortune didn’t fall in the favour of Mithali Raj as India-W was knocked out from the group stage of the tournament without even winning a single match, and India lost all 3 games and finished at the bottom of the table.
In the 4th edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup, which was held in 2014, under Mithali Raj’s captaincy, India again failed to qualify as IND-W were knocked out in the group stage of the match by 2-2, winning 2 matches and losing 2 matches, also a failed India-W campaign again.
Mithali Raj captained IND-W in the 5th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which was held in 2016. This time also, the Indian campaign was a complete disappointment as out of 4 matches, IND-W only won 1 match, and West Indies-W won the season by 8 wickets and sealed their first title ever.
3. Harmanpreet Kaur – 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024
Under Harmanpreet Kaur’s captaincy, India’s performance in the 6th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which took place in 2018, IND-W won all the matches of the 2018 World Cup group stage, with a 34-run win against NZ-W, a 7-wicket win against PAK-W, a 52-run win against IRE-W, and a 48-run win against AUS-W.
India was ruthless and unbeaten throughout the tournament, but in the semi-final match against ENG-W, India lost by 8 wickets, and the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur had a fantastic season as a captain and made her a successful captain.
In the 7th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, held in Australia, India reached their first-ever final match of the T20 World Cup under Harmanpreet Kaur’s leadership, but AUS-W was in a dominating form throughout the tournament and won the final match by a huge margin of 85 runs.
India-W had a great tournament in the 8th edition of the tournament, under Kaur’s captaincy. India’s campaign fell in the semi-finals, but the group stage of IND-W was good, as winning 3 matches out of 4. In the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup, India-W were knocked out of the group stage as IND-W won only 2 matches out of 4.
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