WPL 2024 Final: Will Smriti Mandhana's RCB Women Beat Anil

WPL 2024 finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore Women in 2024 are exactly where the RCB men’s team was in 2009. Here’s captain Smriti Mandhana’s take ahead of the big final in Delhi on March 17.

Smriti Mandhana’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) reached the final of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024, the second iteration of the five-team competition, drawing parallels with the franchise’s men’s team reaching the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the tournament’s second iteration. This is especially true given that both the RCB Men’s and Women’s teams finished second to last in their respective inaugural tournaments.

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Smriti Mandhana emphasized ahead of Sunday’s Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 final that RCB Women were aware of drawing a line between the two teams leading into WPL 2024 and that their stance had not changed ahead of her side’s title clash against Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals.

“This year it was very important for us not to connect to the whole franchise and (dwell on) what happened with the men’s side because it sometimes puts added pressure,” Mandhana said during the pre-final captains’ news conference on Saturday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. “We were simply thinking that we’re just two seasons into it, so let’s not get too stressed about what’s transpired over the previous 15 years or go relating with (the similarities).

“Our last 25 days’ discourse has always been about enjoying each other’s company while still focusing on the procedures and training thoroughly. This does not alter anything. We don’t want to alter anything simply because it’s the end. We’ll continue to train the same manner we have over the past 25 days in order to do well tomorrow.