Smriti Mandhana to captain Royal Challengers Bangalore in maiden WPL edition

Royal Challengers Bangalore and a player with jersey number 18 leading the franchise, look like a pair made in heaven. While Virat Kohli, whose jersey number is 18, led RCB for nearly a decade in the past, the franchise has now named Smriti Mandhana -whose jersey number is also 18, as the new captain of their team for the maiden edition of Women’s Premier League (WPL), which begins on March 4th. The star opener was not only the first female player to be sold in the WPL auction, but she also happened to be the most-expensive one too – with RCB splurging INR 3.4 crores for her. On Saturday, via a video that was posted on the RCB's social media handles, this announcement was made public. Ironically, it was RCB’s former skipper Virat Kohli and current captain South Africa’s Faf du Plessis, who revealed RCB’s new skipper in WPL for season one.

"Now it's time for another No. 18 to lead a very special RCB team in WPL. Yes, we are talking about Smriti Mandhana. Go on Smriti. You will have the support of the best team and the best fans in the world," Virat Kohli said.

On the other hand, RCB chairman Prathmesh Mishra also said they trust in Smriti to take this franchise forward and lead it to greater heights in the WPL.

"Smriti is central to our play bold philosophy and cricketing plans. We have handed her the leadership role, and we are confident that Smriti will lead RCB into greater heights," RCB chairman Prathmesh Mishra said.

The 26-year-old Mandhana, who is currently in South Africa with the Indian team for the Women’s T20 World Cup, said, "It is such a great feeling to see Virat and Faf speak so much about leading RCB and I would like to thank RCB management for giving me this amazing opportunity.

"I am looking forward to receiving all the love and support from you fans who I am told are the best in the World. I promise you to give my 100% to lead RCB to success in WPL," the openeradded.

Meanwhile, in her decade-old career so far, Smriti has achieved some great heights - in 113 women’s T20Is played, she has scored 2661 runs at a strike rate of 123.19. In 2021, Smriti was also awarded the ICC Women Cricketer of the Year for amassing 855 runs in 21 matches played in that year.

On captaincy front, Smriti had led India in 11 games, winning six out it. For the Trailblazers in the Women’s T20 Challenge prior to the introduction of WPL, Smriti led her side in all four seasons and even helped them win the title in 2020.

The left-handed Mandhana will next be seen in action during India’s match against England on Saturday, February 18th.