Smriti Mandhana to continue as captain for RCB in WPL 2024 cycle
Smriti Mandhana will continue as the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming Women's Premier League cycle. RCB has retained four key players, including Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, and Shreyanka Patil, with 6.15 crores left for the auction
Hyderabad: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach Malolan Rangarajan confirmed that Indian vice-captain and World Cup winner Smriti Mandhana will be the team’s first retention in the new Women’s Premier League cycle and will continue as the team’s captain.
“With Smriti, we get a left-handed opener, a very aggressive batter. That’s something that resonates with how we want to play. Also, she’s a very calm leader who we think is tactically astute. Not to forget, she was the captain that led RCB to its first title,” Malolan said.
“Our second retention will be the exciting young wicketkeeper, Richa Ghosh. She is among the best middle-order batters, and being a wicketkeeper gives us an all-round ability. Her ability to handle pressure situations is exactly what we need in our batting order. She also has leadership potential,” the RCB head coach added.
“Our third retention will be Ellyse Perry, and our fourth retention will be Shreyanka Patil, our young and bubbly off-spinner from Bengaluru. With Shreyanka, we decided to give ourselves a little time since she has been on the sidelines for the past year. We gave her the chance to play in a couple of tournaments, which made it an exciting prospect for us,” Malolan explained.
“We’ve retained Smriti Mandhana at 3.5 crores, Richa Ghosh at 2.75 crores, Ellyse Perry at 2 crores, and Shreyanka Patil at 60 lakhs. Together, that gives us a spend of 8.85 crores, leaving us with 6.15 crores heading into the auction,” he concluded
