Vijay Mallya challenges Virat Kohli's RCB to win IPL after WPL triumph

Vijay Mallya, the former owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore, has sent a timely reminder to the franchise’s men’s team after the women’s team’s triumph in the recently concluded Women’s Premier League (WPL).

Led by Smriti Mandhana, RCB thrashed Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in the final to win the second edition of the WPL and power the franchise to its first-ever title. Asked to bowl first, RCB bowled out Delhi for just 113 runs inside 19 overs. Delhi started well with the bat with their openers Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma adding 64 runs for the first wicket.

However, Sophie Molineux took three wickets in an over to reduce Delhi to 64 for 3. Delhi could not recover from those setbacks and were bowled out for 113. In reply, RCB chased down the total with three balls remaining. Smriti Mandhana (31), Sophie Devine (32), and Ellyse Perry (35*) played good knocks to take their team home.

Vijay Mallya’s message for RCB ahead of IPL 2024:

Soon after RCB won the WPL, Vijay Mallya took to X (formerly Twitter) to extend his wishes. The former RCB owner congratulated the team before saying that it would be fantastic if the men’s team could replicate the success in the upcoming IPL 2024. Stating that winning the IPL is long overdue for the men’s team, Vijay Mallya posted:

“Heartiest congratulations to the RCB Women’s Team for winning the WPL. It would be a fantastic double if the RCB Men’s Team won the IPL which is long overdue. Good Luck.”

Heartiest congratulations to the RCB Women’s Team for winning the WPL. It would be a fantastic double if the RCB Men’s Team won the IPL which is long overdue. Good Luck.

— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 17, 2024

RCB does have the firepower to go all the way this year. With the likes of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Rajat Patidar, Lockie Ferguson, and several other big names in their ranks, the Bengaluru-based outfit will be fancying their chances in IPL 2024.

In the past, RCB qualified for the final on three occasions but ended up on the wrong side of the result each time. They last qualified for the final in 2016 when Virat Kohli scored a staggering 973 runs with the help of record four centuries. The franchise would be hoping that Kohli replicates that season and fires them to a historic title. IPL 2024 is scheduled to be played from March 22.