Watch: Ravi Shastri astounded as Smriti Mandhana receives thunderous applause in WPL 2024 final in Delhi

Former India National Cricket Team head coach Ravi Shastri was absolutely astounded looking at the thunderous cheers that the Royal Challengers Bangalore Women captain Smriti Mandhana received from the Delhi crowd in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 final.

The WPL 2024 final is being played between the Meg Lanning-led Delhi Capitals Women (DC-W) and the Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (RCB-W) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

Delhi Capitals Women won the toss, chose to bat first in the match and they fielded an unchanged playing XI. Royal Challengers Bangalore Women, on the other hand, made a change by bringing in S Meghana for Shraddha Poklharkar to further strengthen their batting unit.

At the toss, RCB-W captain Smriti Mandhana as usual received thunderous applause from the Delhi crowd. Notably, RCB-W are the crowd favorites to win the competition and in almost every game the fans come to the stadium to support the franchise to lift their first-ever trophy in T20 league history.

Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri was in awe of the cheers Smriti received as she came to speak at the toss. Over 23000 fans erupted in joy when the star Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (RCB-W) came with the mic and looking at this Shastri said “I know this is Delhi but it seems like Bengaluru.”

Watch: Ravi Shastri Stunned As RCB Crowd Goes Berserk For Smriti Mandhana

Ravi shastri to Smriti mandhana when the Crowd gone crazy :
“I know this is Delhi but it seems like Bengaluru” #RCB craze 🔥🔥#RCBUnbox #RCBvDC pic.twitter.com/h4FZ2cOSgY

— Ramith K S (@ramithks) March 17, 2024

Smriti, with a smile on the face, revealed that they were also looking to bat first in the summit clash. She added that they need to be at their absolute best in the final and ensure that they stick to their plans.

“We would have batted first as well, but I think it doesn’t really go well, we will have to bowl well, stick to our plans and play some good cricket. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs so far, but we need to be at our best tonight. This is the 4th match on the same wicket, the last game, it played slow,” she said.

RCB-W entered the final by defeating Mumbai Indians Women in a thrilling clash while Delhi Capitals Women directly qualified for the final as they finished at the top spot in the points table. Chasing in the final will be tough for RCB-W and in the history of franchise cricket, Royal Challengers Bangalore have lost 4 finals while chasing the target.

Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri further shared a post on his official X handle to praise the atmosphere at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

“Excellent atmosphere for the @wplt20 Final. Huge interest generated thanks to the quality of the cricket. Well done @BCCI #WPL #WPL2024 #DCvsRCB,” former India head coach stated.

Excellent atmosphere for the @wplt20 Final. Huge interest generated thanks to the quality of the cricket. Well done @BCCI #WPL #WPL2024 #DCvsRCB pic.twitter.com/S96nmeEl1z

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) March 17, 2024

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Sabbhineni Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh(w), Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Shraddha Pokharkar, Renuka Thakur Singh

Delhi Capitals Women (Playing XI): Meg Lanning(c), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia(w), Shikha Pandey, Minnu Mani