Being the defending champion of any tournament can be a double-edged sword. And Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) may very well feel the good and the bad this very sword brings with it as the Smriti Mandhana-led side embarks on another Women’s Premier League (WPL) season.
RCB will hope to be the first team in this young competition to retain its title after it dumped Delhi Capitals enroute to the trophy.
Something that can surely help the Challengers make a case for themselves to clinch back-to-back trophies is their batting. Led by an experienced Elysse Perry of Australia, who amassed 347 runs from nine matches last season to win the Orange Cap, RCB’s batting line-up also boasts of India internationals like Smriti and Richa Ghosh.
Skipper Smriti will be entering the season after a couple of swashbuckling bilateral home series against Ireland and West Indies. Against the Windies, the southpaw scored at an average of almost 65 in the shortest format and came out as the top-scorer in the three-match series.
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Against the Irish, in a One-Day International series, she scored a century and ended with 249 runs at an impressive average of 83.
Another asset of RCB is the big-hitting Richa. The Bengal wicketkeeper-batter is the quintessential example of a finisher and can prove to be useful in the death overs with quickfire knocks.
The confidence and perhaps a skip in their step credited to the tag of being the ‘defending champion’ can surely help on their own. However, some wounds that could be inflicted by that double-edged sword may pose problems for the side.
The Challengers’ pace battery has always been low on charge, in terms of output at least. Over the two seasons, RCB’s spin department has taken more wickets (64) against the 29 scalped by the pacers. However, the fast bowlers have been more economical – having conceded 263 fewer runs – and have troubled the batters to middle the ball.
While the spinners are one of RCB’s greatest strengths, the management would rue the absence of Asha Sobhana from the starting line-up. The leg-break bowler from Kerala took 12 wickets last season, the second-highest wicket-taker in the campaign, and has been sidelined by a knee injury which also kept her out of the Women’s T20 World Cup in UAE.
Shreyanka Patil – last year’s Purple Cap winner – is the only spin option that has experience in the WPL and internationally.
| Photo Credit:
SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR/ The Hindu
Shreyanka Patil – last year’s Purple Cap winner – is the only spin option that has experience in the WPL and internationally.
| Photo Credit:
SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR/ The Hindu
Another absence that would weaken RCB’s core is Sophie Devine. The T20 World Cup-winning skipper of the New Zealand side announced a break from cricket which ruled her out of the 2025 WPL season. The allrounder’s ability to come in clutch with both the ball and the bat would be a sore miss for the Challengers.
There are some players who could help bandage the aforementioned wounds. Exciting prospects like the Uttarakhand allrounder Prema Rawat – a leg spinner – could slot in as Asha’s replacement. Joshitha VJ, upbeat from her U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup triumph in Malaysia, is another allrounder to watch out for.
RCB has brought in experienced Australia internationals Heather Graham and Kim Garth in place of Devine and Kate Cross, who has opted out of the season due to personal reasons. Both Graham and Garth could power up the Challengers’ pace battery, with the latter having earlier played for Gujarat Giants in the tournament.
While the Smriti and Perry-led batting department has practically nothing to worry about, the bowling department could very well be dealt with another blow if the stars decide not to align for the defending champion.
As it stands, Shreyanka Patil – last year’s Purple Cap winner – is the only spin option that has experience in the WPL and internationally. However, she has had to struggle with injuries in the last eight months. She suffered a fracture to the fourth finger of her left hand just after one match in last year’s Women’s Asia Cup. While she did manage to get fit in time for the T20 World Cup, in which she took four wickets, it’s been more than three months since she played a competitive match.
That being said, it’ll be interesting to see how Shreyanka and the Smriti-skippered side handle the double-edged sword when RCB begins its title defence against Gujarat Giants in Vadodara on February 14.