“I hope we all will be inspiring a lot many women” - Smriti Mandhana on impact of WPL 2023

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women’s captain Smriti Mandhana has expressed hope that the Women’s Premier League (WPL) will inspire more women to take up the sport. She asserted that all players will be keen to make a big impact in the tournament and encourage the upcoming generation to consider taking up cricket seriously.

WPL 2023 kicked off with the first game between Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai on Saturday (March 4). Gujarat have won the toss and have opted to bowl first.

Bangalore will begin their WPL 2023 campaign by taking on Delhi Capitals at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Monday (March 6) in a day game, which will begin at 3:30 pm IST. Speaking about the opportunity to lead the RCB franchise, Mandhana said:

“First of all, I should thank the RCB management for giving me the opportunity to be a part of and lead a legacy team like the RCB. It is an exciting opportunity and at the same time challenging. The WPL is a landmark tournament in the history of women’s cricket, and I hope we all will be inspiring a lot many women to take up the sports through our performance and presence.”

In a commendable gesture, RCB has made an investment of ₹901 crore as part of their ‘Sports For All’ cricket strategy. The concept is aimed at ensuring increased participation of women at all levels of cricket and contributing to equal opportunity for women and growth in India.

Hailing RCB’s gesture, Mandhana added:

“It’s extremely encouraging for us to see a franchise like RCB to commit to this larger cause of equal participation of women and invest a round sum of money to get a team and contribute to the growth of India.”

Mandhana is one of the leading run-getters in women’s T20I cricket. In 116 games, she has scored 2802 runs at an average of 27.74 and a strike rate of 123.87, with 22 half-centuries.

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Mandhana was most expensive player at WPL auction

The 26-year-old left-hander was the first player to go under the hammer at the WPL 2023 auction.

She was also the most expensive purchase at the auction, bought by RCB for ₹3.4 crore.

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RCB Women’s squad: Smriti Mandhana (captain), 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