Smriti Mandhana raises eyebrows with RCB men's team comparison before WPL 2024 final

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women’s captain Smriti Mandhana doesn’t really care about what has happened in the past over the 16 years with the Men’s team in the Indian Premier League. Mandhana and her RCB team will be aiming to become just the first team from the South Indian franchise to have claimed the biggest prize in franchise T20 cricket, much like their opponents Delhi Capitals.

It is going to be a historic night tonight when Smriti Mandhana’s side collides with table toppers and last season’s runners-up, the Meg Lanning-led Delhi Capitals Women. Excitement and anticipation are in the air as either of those two teams will claim the title which has eluded the Men’s team since the IPL’s inception in 2008. RCB qualified for the finals after handing a shock defeat to reigning champions Mumbai Indians in the play-off match 2 days ago.

Smriti Mandhana not too stressed about the final

Speaking ahead of the Women’s Premier League season 2 finale this evening at the Arun Jaitley stadium, Smriti Mandhana said that she is not too worried or stressed about the clash. There is definitely a bit of pressure on her side that they must break the unlucky RCB jinx by claiming the title but according to Smriti, correlating with the Men’s team is not an option.

Smriti Mandhana isn't too stressed about RCB's knockout history 🗣https://t.co/hjLuYP8y5s #WPL2024 #WPLfinal pic.twitter.com/Tt9bhYqEm5

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 17, 2024

“We were just thinking we’re only two season into this, so let’s not take too much stress about what has happened over the last 15 years or correlating with similarities,” Smriti Mandhana said via ESPNcricinfo. 

It has been a successful season for the Bangalore-based outfit, especially after a season where they registered just 2 wins and lost 6 games, finishing 4th in the points table with just 4 points to their name. But this season they have made up for the embarrassment endured as they finished 3rd in the table with 4 wins and 4 losses each and accumulated 8 points.

Although their journey to the finale hasn’t been that convincing since the league stages and even their victory against Mumbai Indians, which was decided in the final ball of the match, Smriti Mandhana will be confident heading into the final.

RCB’s journey to final

Bangalore’s comeback journey in IPL 2024 has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride, from last-ball wins to some one-sided losses to some comprehensive victories. They began their campaign with back-to-back wins against UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants, the first one by 2 runs and the second one by 8 wickets.

But as they say, Cricket is a great leveler, they were brought back to the ground against two of the strongest sides – against Delhi by 25 runs and then lost by 7 wickets against Mumbai. Then they did the league double against the Warriorz by 23 runs before losing to Gujarat by 19 runs and then another loss against Delhi by a run before beating Mumbai twice on the trot in their last league game and then in the playoff match by 5-runs.

The most exciting one was the win in the play-offs to which Smriti Mandhana had said, “What a match. Still this feeling has not sunk in. At the halfway mark, we felt we were 20 runs short. But the way we bowled and fielded was amazing. 130 is a total where you are not sure whether to attack or defend, but the last over from Asha was unreal.”