The inaugural Women's Premier League started just a few days after the auction, making it hard for players to establish connection with the teams and their teammates. However, Smriti Mandhana, the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, made instant connection with her franchise. (More Cricket News)
“They never ever said that, ‘Oh, this is a women's team.’ They were clear that this is an RCB team and we will treat it as an RCB team. We just finished the auction and, in three days, we were playing for the franchise. So you somewhat don't connect because you're just playing in three days. But this side of the management made me feel that I really want to give back to the franchise and the management,” Mandhana said speaking at RCB라이브 바카라 new ‘Bold & Beyond’ podcast.
“Of course, the fans’ experience and all, I started feeling it the second year. But even from the first year, I started feeling that for the management because they created the whole environment around it. That was really cool,” she added.
Mandhana had led RCB to the Women's Premier League trophy last year and she knows that the fans want the Bengaluru franchise to defend their title. The third season of the Women's Premier League begins February 14 with RCB facing Gujarat Giants in the tournament opener.
Mandhana was the highest paid player at the player's auction with RCB signing the current India vice captain at a record INR 3.4 crore.
On the podcast, Mandhana also told an interesting story about how she got her perfect bat as a child.
“I remember I was in Meerut; that was the first place where I toured and my dad came with me because I was too young to go alone. My dad knew a bat company there that sent bats for him. They said, your daughter is using a big bat, let me make a specially curated bat for her and get it. It was a company, I think, named RS. I don't know if it even exists now, but that uncle was kind enough. I was very excited. I couldn't sleep,” Mandhana told host Mayanti Langer. “After two days, he got a specialised bat according to my size because I was tiny. I held that bat and I was just like, this is it. That was the moment for me.”
