T20 WC: No runs are being scored, no bowling is being done, how has Harmanpreet become a burden on the team?

In the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, the Indian team is in the race for the semi-finals after winning 3 out of 4 matches, but its hopes of going to the next round seem slim. This is because it has to face Australia in the last group stage match. This will be a ‘do or die’ match for Team India. If the Indian team does not win this match, then South Africa will get the semi-final ticket along with Australia from Group-1.

Team India’s journey has been full of ups and downs. After easily defeating Pakistan and Netherlands, they lost to South Africa. After this, the Indian team has made a comeback by defeating Bangladesh but looking at the performance of the team, it seems difficult for it to reach the semi-finals. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur herself is going through bad form. No six has come off his bat so far in this tournament.

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Harmanpreet’s bat got rusty

37 year old Harmanpreet had scored 36 runs against Pakistan but for this she faced 35 balls. When there was a need to increase the run rate, she became the victim of opposition captain Fatima Sana. Against Netherlands, who were playing T20 World Cup for the first time, she could score only 12 runs in 9 balls. An impactful innings was expected from her in the important match against South Africa but she could only score 24 runs in 22 balls.

Harmanpreet came to the crease against Bangladesh when Team India lost 4 wickets for 98 runs in 12.2 overs in the chase of 137 runs. 39 runs were needed in 46 balls to win. To further improve India’s net run rate, it was necessary to achieve the target quickly. But due to slow batting of Harmanpreet, it took 27 balls for the Indian team to score the remaining runs. Harmanpreet remained unbeaten on 13 runs after playing 14 balls.

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Harmanpreet’s performance in Women’s T20 World Cup 2026

Has Harmanpreet become a burden on the team?

Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana are giving a good start to Team India but their hard work is being wasted due to the struggles of the middle order under the leadership of Harmanpreet. Harmanpreet doesn’t even bowl now. There are question marks over his place as a specialist batsman in the team. She has not been able to play any big innings in T20 cricket for a long time, due to which now the question has deepened whether Harmanpreet has become a burden on the team? Smriti is ready to replace him as captain. Smriti has won 2 titles for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Women’s Premier League.

After Team India’s exit from the group stage in the last T20 World Cup, there was a possibility of Harmanpreet being stripped of the captaincy in the shorter format, but even now the reins of the team are in his hands. Harmanpreet is captaining the Indian team for the fifth consecutive World Cup. During this period, the team’s best performance is to be runner-up in the 2020 T20 World Cup.