WPL 2023: Smriti Mandhana opens up on RCB’s horrific campaign in the inaugural season

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) finished their horrible campaign in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 with a loss against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the afternoon fixture of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai.

Notably, the Challengers created a lot of buzz during the auctions following the inclusion of high-profile players like Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine. However, the tournament did not pan out quite as they would’ve expected. RCB lost five games on the trot to start their journey on the worst note. RCB did manage to win two games thereafter, but it was too late for them to bounce back.

After losing their final game against Mumbai, RCB finished fourth in the points table with two wins out of 8 matches. Following their defeat, RCB skipper Mandhana said she didn’t expect her team to finish like the way they did and hoped to come back stronger in the next season.

“The kind of team we have, and the kind of balance that we have, I did not expect that the campaign will go this way. At this moment, you feel a lot of things, like what we could have done better. Definitely sad that we could not make it to the top three, but I think it’s the first season and there are a lot of things to work on as a player and as a team, and as a captain. I’m sure we will go back and comeback harder and stronger,” said Mandhana in a video shared by RCB on Twitter.

Notably, Mandhana had a dreadful WPL with the bat, scoring just 149 runs at a horrific average of 18.62. Her strike rate was not up to the mark either, which led to the struggles of the side, as RCB couldn’t start well in most of the matches.

“We now know what can go wrong. Now that we know that, I think we will be much prepared next year. The whole setup stuck together even though we lost the first five matches, and I think that was the biggest takeaway,” added Mandhana.

Source: WomenCricket.com

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March 22, 2023 at 04:00PM