RCB skipper Mandhana plays down comparisons with men's team ahead of WPL final against DC

The Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) men’s team’s inability to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) for 16 seasons isn’t playing on women’s captain Smriti Mandhana’s mind ahead of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) final, in which her side faces Delhi Capitals in Delhi on Sunday.

RCB had endured a disappointing run in the inaugural WPL, finishing second-from bottom with six losses in eight matches, but would bounce back in style this season, stunning defending champions Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator on Friday to qualify for the final.

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Bangalore had earlier thrashed MI convincingly in their final game of the group stage by seven wickets to ensure their passage into the knockouts, and now face one final hurdle, against the Meg Lanning-led Capitals who topped the table at the end of the league stage to secure direct qualification into the final for a second season running.

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Ahead of the summit clash, which takes place in Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, Mandhana was in no mood for comparisons with the men’s team that had been led by Virat Kohli for nearly a decade and is currently captained by South Africa’s Faf du Plessis.

“Firstly, I think this year was really important for us to connect to the whole franchise with what’s happened with the men, sometimes it puts pressure.

“So we were just thinking that we are two seasons into it, so let’s not put too much stress. So not really co-relating with what happened with the men’s team,” Mandhana said during the post-match press conference after her team’s thrilling victory over the Mumbai Indians.

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Mandhana also stressed on living in the present and not dwelling too much on the events of the bygone past, and focusing on delivering their best in Sunday’s final.

“What cricket has taught is it is important to live in the present. It’s just about playing good cricket on that particular day, whoever plays the best cricket tomorrow is going to win.

“Last year wasn’t the greatest campaign for RCB. (But) the conversation in the last 25 days has always been around we are enjoying each other’s company, really focussed on the process, training well. So doesn’t change anything. We are not changing anything overnight because it is a final,” Mandhana added.

The RCB men’s team have not won the IPL even once since the tournament was launched in 2008. They would finish runners-up in 2009 after a second-from-bottom finish in 2008, and would also lose the finals of the 2011 and 2016 editions. Bangalore’s most recent appearance in the IPL playoffs was in 2022, in which the team went as far as Qualifier 2 before bowing out following a defeat against eventual runners-up Rajasthan Royals.

Mandhana and Co had begun the season with a thrilling 2-run win against UP Warriorz at their home venue of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru — which hosted half of the group matches this season. They would then hammer Gujarat Giants by eight wickets in their next outing before suffering back-to-back defeats — against Delhi Capitals (25 runs) and Mumbai Indians (7 wickets).

They head to Sunday’s final having lost both of their group fixtures against the Capitals, suffering a heart-breaking 1-run loss in their chase of the 182-run target in the return fixture in Delhi after their 25-run loss earlier in Bengaluru.