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Follow Us“What do you expect from the second season, Smriti?”
You don’t expect a chuckle to precede words when the skipper of Royal Challengers Bangalore is asked this question. We have seen Virat Kohli age live on television when asked such a question. But Mandhana just chuckled and simply said, “Just that it goes better than the last one”, and then guffawed loudly as the other Indian players joined her in it on the couch of Jio Cinema’s show ‘Huddle’.
As laughter faded, a graphic showed how RCB finished fourth among five teams with only two wins out of eight games. They were all over the place last season, from messing up their selection to their skipper neither performing with the bat nor being an astute leader on the field.
Mandhana only scored 149 runs in eight innings last season, where her weakness against spin was readily exploited by the opposition. She went out to them seven times out of eight and averaged only 10.57. In contrast, she averaged 75 and struck at 131.58 against pace. Safe to say, spin sunk her, and when she wasn’t there to lead the boat in the right direction, the RCB ship couldn’t reach the shore it was supposed to.
If not for the bright spots of Kanika Ahuja and Shreyanka Patil, RCB’s last season would have been even poorer for the franchise that went all guns blazing in the auction and picked up big names with the ease of buying vegetables.
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It’s easy to discredit RCB women’s side and write them off as the most hyped but hardly successful team. However, one should put the context in which they had to come together and start from scratch.
The 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa ended on the 26th of February, and the WPL began on the 4th of March. There was hardly any time for the players to come back and train together, get to know each other, and create strong bonds that would be palpable in the on-field performances.
“Last year, we joined only two days before (the tournament), and I had no idea in the beginning about 90% of the girls and what they do and don’t,” said Mandhana.
Of course, in such a situation, it will be hard for the captain and the coach to formulate the right strategy for the team.
“We should know their strengths and weaknesses right from the start so that we can play better. WPL is anyways a short tournament. We don’t get the time to change things a lot."
However, now the question arises of how RCB will change that this season. Thankfully for the passionate RCB fans, Mandhana and her support staff are much better equipped to deal with this time, and the credit goes to domestic cricket.
Mandhana skipped the Women’s Big Bash League and played in the Indian domestic season rather, with the bilateral series with England and Australia also falling in the middle. Mandhana’s decision paid immense dividends for RCB.
“I think the decision to play domestic cricket was quite a good one. Firstly, it helped me to keep practising, plus I saw a lot of talented girls. We don’t get to play domestic matches often and we don’t get to know how are the girls in the other states doing. That thing helped us a lot as I was then able to tell my franchise that this girl is quite good, and you can call her for trials etc.”
“I think it’s quite crucial that we get to know these names because then we have an idea about what exactly they can do."
The result was immediately visible in the auctions as RCB picked up some brilliant domestic players like Ekta Bisht, Shubha Satheesh, and Shraddha Pokhakar for the second season, filling many gaps in their side.
Moreover, with ample time to organise a camp and interact before the season, the team would have gelled nicely this year.
At this point, it can be said that the other teams faced the same situation last year. How was it different for RCB, then? Well, I’ll let Mandhana answer that again.
“Wherever I’m going for the last 1-2 years, that’s what I hear. Ee saala cup namde Ee saala cup namde. Leave India. Even when I’m in the UK, playing in the Hundred, that’s what I’ve been hearing continuously.”
Mandhana might have just said it casually, but imagine the pressure it might have put on her and the other players. These women hadn’t played amidst such high expectations from the fans. That’s where playing for RCB becomes just another kettle of fish altogether.
The good thing is that this year, things have begun on a good note. RCB have assembled a team that has almost all bases covered. Their skipper, Mandhana, is much wiser, having already been through a gruelling experience.
While her batting form remains scrutinised, her redemption arc has already started forming. It might not take her months or involve digging a tunnel through a prison. But it will involve learning from last season's mistakes; in that regard, at least, Mandana seems to be leading her team in the right direction.
