News: Smriti Mandhana announced as RCB's captain for WPL season 1

Smriti Mandhana has been selected captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore for the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL). The news was made via a video uploaded on RCB’s social media accounts, which included remarks from previous and current men’s team captains Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis. Mandhana’s name was the first to come up for bidding at the WPL auction, which took place on February 13 in Mumbai. As expected, there was a bidding battle for her, with Mumbai Indians and RCB going head-to-head before RCB bought her for INR 3.4 crore (about USD 415,000) – the highest price for any player at the auction.

“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 have the support best team and the best fans in the world,” Kohli said.”It is an incredible privilege to captain RCB, what an incredible franchise and so much history and great players just walking through that dressing room. I am very confident that our women’s captain has all the attributes to lead RCB. All the very best, Smriti Mandhana. See you at the games,” du Plessis said.

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Smriti has captained India before

“It is just a great feeling to see Virat and Faf speak so much about leading RCB. And I would like to thank RCB management for me giving me this amazing opportunity,” Mandhana said in the announcement video. “I am looking forward to receiving all the love and support from you fans, who I am told are the best in the world. And I promise you to give my 100% to lead to success in the WPL.” She has captained India in 11 T20Is, winning six (including five of the most recent) and losing five. She also captained the Trailblazers in the Women’s T20 Challenge, the WPL’s antecedent, for all four seasons, leading the team to victory in 2020.

Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, Heather Knight, and Dane van Niekerk are among the players in RCB’s WPL squad. The competition begins on March 4 with the Gujarat Giants taking against the Mumbai Indians. The RCB season begins on March 5 against the Delhi Capitals. The RCB will not play any home games in season one, with the entire competition taking place in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

RCB squad for WPL 2023: Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Erin Burns, Disha Kasat, Indrani Roy, Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, Asha Shobana, Heather Knight, Dane van Niekerk, Preeti Bose, Poonam Khemnar, Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt, Sahana Pawar