The captain of the RCB women’s team, Smriti Mandhana, has stated that the squad has worked extremely hard behind the scenes following a disappointing WPL first season. The first edition saw RCB miss out on the playoffs; this year, they made amends by defeating the defending champion Mumbai Indians to secure their advancement.
“We couldn’t step up and play the cricket we wanted to play [last year],” she stated. “Yet, during the past year, a lot of consideration has gone into this. a great deal of labour behind the scenes from the RCB management as well as all of the support workers, including myself. It was very incredible how they demonstrated their faith in each of us.
“You know, all they spoke about was that this is your team; do with it as you see fit. Thus, it was really considerate of them to take such action. Indeed, there have been many highs and lows throughout this campaign, so I wouldn’t say that it has been very fulfilling thus far. We got off to a great start and then kind of faltered. However, it is the nature of T20 and WPL cricket. You will have both good and bad days.
At the halfway mark, Mandhana pointed out that there were no certainties of success, even if MI was bowled out for just 113 thanks to Ellyse Perry’s brilliant spell. “In cricket halfway you can’t be thinking that we are going to win the game because it’s a game of cricket and anything can happen,” she stated.
“So it’s undeniable that seeing Perry bowl was incredible. She was seaming the ball in a really wonderful fashion, and it was quite impressive to see from mid-off. Indeed, I believe we were aware that the wicket is difficult and that we need to use our bats to really work hard. I’m rather pleased with how Richa and Pez [Perry] completed it.”
Mandhana disclosed that they were resolute in prioritising winning the games at hand over worrying about the outcomes of other teams in order to qualify. “We always knew that we would have advanced to the knockout stages if we had won any of the two games, even that one-run contest. We thus avoid examining the actions of rival teams, current events, the equation, the net run rate, and other factors as they can occasionally seriously undermine cricket. We discussed keeping things simple and treating it as a quarterfinal, semifinal, and final. We’ve tried to play the greatest cricket we can, so let’s go out there and do that.
Indeed, we didn’t overly complicate things. We just had a conversation about issues that were resolved in the Delhi game and things that didn’t work out. Many of the guys were in one-on-one conversations with us that went well. as well as Luke [head coach Williams]. He has done a fantastic job managing the group’s emotions. It’s not an easy thing to come in your first year and be able to achieve that, especially with RCB and the sort of fan following [it has]. Indians are accustomed to it. However, I believe he did a fantastic job considering that he went outdoors to accomplish it. Even the support personnel has, in my opinion, excelled.”
The 27-year-old also offered appreciation to the native Indian athletes who have been influential since the WPL’s founding. “Watching the talent in our country blossom is simply incredible. You’ve seen a lot of stories, and I believe the first one began when a girl from Kerala smashed a six off the first ball in the WPL. If I had been an uncapped, inexperienced player, I doubt I could have pulled it off. That was something the entire audience saw. The way Indians have stepped up over the entire tournament has been incredible to witness, and of course I would miss certain people, so I won’t mention names.
“To be honest, I thought Deepti Sharma’s batting performance yesterday was excellent to see. She is an accomplished player, of course, but once more, her level of responsibility and batting technique were just incredible. In general, I believe that the attendance of the people and the exposure of the Indian girls to it have been extremely pleasant. It was definitely something for the domestic females to feel since Chinnaswamy was the loudest venue I had ever played at. So, yes, I’m quite excited and looking forward to seeing these familiar faces mixed in with the international setup someplace.”
