Legendary Captain Steps Down: 9-Year Reign Ends for World Cup Winner
London (The Uttam Hindu): Heather Knight, who led the England women's cricket team for the last nine years, resigned from her post on Friday. Her decision came just a day after the team's head coach John Lewis left the post. Knight's decision comes at a time when the team had a disappointing performance in the recent Ashes series in Australia. Earlier, the team could not progress beyond the group stage in the Women's T20 World Cup last year. Heather Knight has decided to step down from captaincy after an ongoing internal review following the team's continued poor performance. However, she will still be available for selection as a player.
Heather Knight was handed over the captaincy of England after Charlotte Edwards in the year 2016. Under her leadership, the team won the ODI World Cup title by defeating India in 2017. Apart from this, the team also reached the finals of the ICC tournament in 2018 and 2022.
The England Cricket Board (ECB) has now decided to move on from Heather Knight and a new captain will be announced in her place soon. In a statement released by the ECB, Heather Knight said, “Captaining my country has been the greatest honor of my life and it will always be an unforgettable experience for me. Winning the World Cup is one of the most memorable moments of my career. I would like to thank all my fans and family for their support. Now I am excited to focus on my batting and play under the new captain.”
Heather Knight's international cricket career has been quite brilliant. She has scored 970 runs in 14 Test matches at an average of 42.17, which includes 2 centuries and 5 half-centuries. In ODIs, she has scored 4037 runs in 149 matches at an average of 35.10, which includes 2 centuries and 26 half-centuries. In T20 Internationals, she has scored 2222 runs in 129 matches at an average of 25.83, which includes one century and 7 half-centuries. She has also contributed in bowling, taking 7 wickets in Tests, 56 in ODIs and 21 in T20s. The ECB will soon announce the name of the new captain, on which everyone's eyes are fixed.
