Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Smriti Mandhana said that despite the Bangalore-based team having a huge fan base in the league, whether it is WPL or IPL, , feels that this elusive trophy has been long awaited and believes that women’s cricket has a lot to achieve. It has risen in rank over the past seven to eight years.
The inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL 2023) was a great success, but it was not as successful as Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (RCB) had intended, given the superstar-studded squad. It wasn’t memorable. They were one of the first teams to be eliminated, and in the tournament he won only two out of eight games, earning only four points.
In an interview with Sportskeeda, Smriti Mandhana believes that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has relaunched in the Women’s Premier League and has created a championship for the loyal RCB fans. I hope to win. She believes that a lot of good things have happened in women’s cricket over the past seven-eight years and apart from the introduction of the WPL, she also highlighted the need for equal pay in men’s and women’s cricket.
“As an RCB women’s team, we are all starting from scratch. We don’t think about what happened with RCB as a franchise. RCB is definitely a huge franchise, The only thing bigger than the pressure is the kind of joy that our loyal RCB fans will experience if we win the title. I’m looking forward to that.”
“There’s been a lot of change [in women’s cricket] in the last seven or eight years, and I think the big change is in the way people look at women’s cricket, and that’s a really good thing.” They They appreciate us and criticize us, which is good because it makes them feel connected to us. WPL and equal pay aside, I think this has brought about a big change in the way people look at women’s cricket,” Smriti Mandhana said.
Despite fielding a good team almost every season, the Bangalore-based franchise is yet to win a championship. They qualified for three IPL finals and one CLT20 summit game, but lost all four. They have also appeared in the Champions League T20 several times. RCB also made their Women’s Premier League (WPL) debut earlier this year.
I Think Kumar Sangakkara Has Been A Big Inspiration To Me – Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana revealed that she admired former Sri Lankan national team captain Kumar Sangakkara during her journey to becoming a professional cricketer. She also spoke about how her T20 cricket helped India’s team reach new heights.
“I think Kumar Sangakkara was a big inspiration for me when it came to batting. I think T20 cricket has done that. India has a lot of good cricketers too,” Smriti Mandhana added.
With just 2 wins out of 8 matches, RCB finished the 2023 WPL season in 4th place. Smriti Mandhana’s side will be hoping to field a formidable squad during the auction to compete for the elusive trophy in WPL 2024.
