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WPL 2025: Smriti Mandhana Rues Not Stepping Up And Fighting After Fouth Place Finish
Follow UsRCB could win only three games out of eight this season and finished fourth in the five-team competition
Defending champions of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), finished fourth in the season after winning just three games in the 2025 season of India’s premier domestic women’s T20 league.
RCB began their campaign on a high after chasing down a humungous target of 202, the second highest ever in the history of women's T20s. They even swatted away the Delhi Capitals in the second game by eight wickets, who eventually topped the table three years in a row.
However, the Smriti Mandhana-led side failed to win some close encounters in the middle of the competition, with one of their losses coming against the UP Warriorz (UPW) in a super over in Bengaluru. A better run rate than UPW and a win against Mumbai Indians by 11 runs in the last league game in Mumbai helped them avoid the last spot this season.
Speaking after the consolation win against MI, Mandhana accepted that losing many key players due to injury and then giving away the momentum in the middle of the competition proved to be their downfall.
“We just discussed that we started on a high and finished on a high but lost a lot of momentum mid-way,” Mandhana said with a smile.
“Not having your five or six players who would play in the playing eleven, missing all the bowlers — the way we started, we felt that it will not be a huge thing for us. A lot of tosses did not go our way as well.
“In cricket, you can say all those things, but you have to fight it out as a team, and we could not step up - that is something all of us will learn,” the left-handed opener admitted.
She also thanked the RCB fans for turning up in big numbers even in non-Bengaluru games in the season and hoped that the team would be able to perform better next season and give them moments to celebrate.
“They are the best fans for a reason. You play in Mumbai, Vadodara, Lucknow, wherever you play, whether you are winning or losing, they keep backing the players and the team,” Mandhana said.
“I remember one instance where we lost the fourth game (in Bengaluru) and we needed 25 off one ball, the whole stadium was going ‘RCB, RCB’. Hopefully, we can pick ourselves up and give something back next year.”
