India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Sunday became the first-ever player in men’s or women’s cricket to play 200 T20I matches. Kaur completed the milestone when she played in the T20 World Cup match against South Africa. However, she could only score 24 runs in her milestone match with India reeling at 116/5. India had stuttered to 83 for four with Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia all sent back.
Harmanpreet, who made her international debut in March 2009 against Pakistan in the ODI format, played her first T20I in June that year against England at Taunton. She was given a special jersey and a cap with ‘200’ written on them by India head coach Amol Muzumdar and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana during a team huddle before the start of the game.
“I think, honestly, it’s been an amazing journey. I never thought I’ll come that far, but I think God has been kind and I’m really thankful to him and to my family, friends, BCCI, all my teammates. They’ve been really supportive,” Harmanpreet said at the toss.
First player EVER – men or women – to play 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ T20Is 🫡
Harmanpreet Kaur stands alone at the top of the mountain ⛰️#TeamIndia | #T20WorldCup | #WomenInBlue | #SAvIND | @ImHarmanpreet pic.twitter.com/GoKwfVMrS8
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) June 21, 2026
“I think I’m more nervous playing 200th game and she is someone who looks very calm and hopefully she’ll enjoy the game,” she added, having awarded the debut cap to Prema Rawat. “Just to enjoy. I think I’m more nervous playing 200th game and she is someone who looks very calm and hopefully she’ll enjoy the game,” she added on what message she’ll be giving to Prema.
Harmanpreet leads an illustrious list of women cricketers in the list of most T20Is, which incudes New Zealand’s Suzie Bates (184 matches), Danni Wyatt-Hodge (183), Australia’s Ellyse Perry (177) and Mandhana (169).
Among men’s players, Ireland’s Paul Stirling leads the list with 163 matches followed by former India captain Rohit Sharma (159), George Dockrell from Ireland (157), England’s Jos Buttler (155), and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi (152).
