Smriti Mandhana "Not Thinking About What Has Happened In RCB As A Franchise"
Smriti Mandhana's RCB finished 4th in the 5-team Women's Premier League 2023 season.
The Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 auction has arrived, with the five franchises looking to bolster their squads ahead of next year's event. The Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore have 5 vacant spots to fill in their team, with the focus being to build a squad that helps them finish better than last season's 4th. While RCB have a formidable team, it's the franchise's 'history' overall that remains a big subject of chatter among fans. Smriti Mandhaana, however, isn't thinking too much about it.
In a chat with Sportskeeda, Mandhana said that the results RCB, as a franchise, has been getting in the past (in the Indian Premier League), isn't something she or her teammates pay too much attention to. For them, it's a fresh start in the Women's Premier League.
"For us as RCB women's team, we are all starting it as new. We are not thinking about what has happened in terms of RCB as a franchise. Definitely, RCB is a massive franchise and the only thing more than pressure, if we go on to win the title, the kind of happiness that the loyal RCB fans will get is something which I am looking forward to."
Mandhana also opened up on the rise of women's cricket. While WPL's arrival has extended women's cricket's echelons in the sport further, Smriti admitted that a lot of work has gone behind the scenes over the last 7-8 years.
"The change (in women's cricket) has been massive in the last 7-8 years, but the massive change I would say is the way people are looking at women's cricket and that is a really good thing. They are appreciating and criticizing us as well which is good because they feel attached to us. Apart from WPL and equal pay, I think this has been one massive change in the way people watch women's cricket."
Women's Royal Challengers Bangalore