Diana Edulji issued a blunt assessment of the Indian women's team after it failed to qualify for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in England. Without mincing words she said it was time for India to move on from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and head coach Amol Muzumdar.

In a stinging critique of the team's performances in the ongoing ICC event, the former India captain, who also served as a member of the BCCI's Committee of Administrators (CoA), said the players and coaches had become ensconced in a comfort zone. 'Stagnated' was the term she used.

"I think we should look beyond Harman. Though she is my favourite player and I've always supported her, I think we need to move on, at least in the T20Is. Let her continue as a player and think about a new captain," Edulji told Cricbuzz. “We should have someone with a few better ideas, especially in terms of strategy. Also, bowling changes - there's a lot more that goes into the captaincy. I think she's stagnated now.”

Edulji's stinging critique of the side comes on day when the Amita Sharma-headed selection committee retained Harmanpreet as skipper for the Asian Games. Edulji felt an opportunity had been missed. "No, I'm not. I'm not," she declared categorically when asked whether she was comfortable with the selection committee call.

"We must look ahead, and this was the right time. Maybe it would have looked a bit like a knee-jerk reaction because we just lost the World Cup, but I think the time has come to take some hard decisions. If you want the team to do well consistently and not just have that one-off victory in November (in the World Cup), it's not right. We really need to take some big steps now and arrest the slide."

She did not hold back saying when tough calls could be taken in men's cricket (like dropping skipper Suryakumar Yadav), why not in women's cricket. "Because I did hear Harman saying in the post-match presentation that they are looking forward to the Olympics. (The same thing Suryakumar also had said). Yeah, I agree. So if we can take bold decisions in men's cricket, I think we should take bold decisions in women's cricket as well."

She noted that Harmanpreet has been playing a safe game. "If she's playing, then she has to play her natural game. She has to go all out and play, irrespective of the situation. By playing safe, you're still losing. If you play aggressively and lose, it's the same story. So, you might as well play aggressively. You never know - you could get away with it, like in the last innings (versus Australia) she played."

She came down heavily on head coach Muzumdar too. "I don't see him being able to produce anything more now than what he has already done. His contribution, yes, has been good. But I think we now need someone who can lift the morale of the team and, you know, be a little stricter, I would say. What the girls need, at least, is someone who can really push them out of their comfort zones."

Edulji also questioned some selection calls in England. "Now, we played Yastika Bhatia, as what? She couldn't come out to bat. She's not a bowler. She's the second wicketkeeper. So, it was a wasted position. We could have had someone in her place who might have contributed.