Former India captain Mithali Raj has backed experienced batter Smriti Mandhana to take over as India's ODI and Test captain after Harmanpreet Kaur. Her comments come in the wake of India's disappointing campaign at the Women's T20 World Cup, where the team once again failed to make a significant impact in an ICC tournament. Mandhana also felt that Shafali Varma could be the ideal choice to lead the T20 side in the years ahead. 

"I at least thought Smriti would lead the ODI format two-three years back. But now also, with the vast experience that she has at least the one-day and Test format should be given to her and perhaps the T20 to someone younger," Mithali Raj told PTI. 

"I think Shafali [Verma]. Her format is T20Is. And she has led the Under-19 World Cup side [to a title win in 2023]. Why not Shafali? Jemi [Rodrigues] too of course, yes. She has led [Delhi Capitals] in the WPL. But I do believe that whoever they pick, they need to give them some time to settle. Because all of us got time to settle in our role as a leader."

Harmanpreet, who achieved a historic milestone by leading India to the Women's ODI World Cup title last year, has enjoyed memorable moments as captain. However, she has been unable to constantly deliver impactful innings over the past few years. And, according to Mithali Raj, Harman's fitness was becoming a major impediment in her progress. 

“One is, of course, the fitness, I feel is very important. Harman in the last two-three years, you see the physio quite often on the ground, every game when she's playing. There were a few games that she was unavailable. So, you obviously would want your captain to be fit and available for all games. And unfortunately, all of us age, so she's not the fittest,” Mithali said.

“So, I don't understand the thought process here. We don't have a roadmap. We don't think about two years down the line, where do you see Indian team? We are only thinking about series to series. We don't have a long-term plan,” she added.