Indian Captains Winning Titles Shows Depth in Our Cricket – RCB Skipper Smriti Mandhana

The left-handed opener then gave a big shout-out to the fans who watched WPL games live and to the RCB management, who were subjected to ridicule for almost 17 years whenever their prophecy of ‘Ee Saala Cup Namde’ (this time, the cup will be ours), fell flat in IPL, including in last year’s WPL, when the team finished at fourth place.

“More than anything, the way the fans have turned up in each and every match in Bangalore or Delhi and the management, they’ve gone through so much in the last 15 years being so close and all of that. They’ve just been amazing throughout. Even last year, when we were not doing well, the only conversation they had was ‘Are you okay?’ which meant a lot as a player.

“When the management shows that kind of thing (faith), there’s something you want to play for and win for. The first thought for me was, ‘Wow the fans of RCB as a franchise are going to be so happy. The management are all in tears’. I was really happy to see them and this whole group.”