WPL: Smriti Mandhana up for DC challenge

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Smriti Mandhana at a press conference on Saturday. Pic/AFP

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) take on Delhi Capitals (DC) in their first encounter of the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday.

Both teams purchased some well-known stars of the game to represent them at the auction last month. RCB have the likes of India star opener Smriti Mandhana (Rs 3.4cr), wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh (Rs 1.9cr), and Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry (Rs 1.7cr) amongst others.

DC on the other hand, sport the Indian batting duo of Jemimah Rodrigues (Rs 2.2cr) and Shafali Verma (Rs 2cr) along with SA all-rounder Marizanne Kapp (Rs 1.5 cr) and Australian Meg Lanning (Rs 1.1cr) amongst others.

The players to watch in this clash for RCB will be Mandhana (1704 runs at 29.89 in T20Is), who was the most expensive player in the auction, along with Richa (563 runs at 113.41 S/R), who is in good nick from the T20 World Cup. Jemimah (1704 runs at 29.89) and Shafali (1333 runs at 132.11 S/R) are expected to fire for DC.

RCB captain Mandhana was asked about the pressure of captaincy. She said, "I have captained before in franchise cricket and state teams, so it's not new to me. I don't feel much pressure but it's a good challenge."

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When asked about the banter with good friend Jemimah, who plays against her today, she said "I know Jemi doesn't like to talk while batting so I'll definitely disturb her when she comes [in] and when I am batting, I will try not to look at her when she says something to distract me. But jokes apart, we both are very excited to play tomorrow."

About the foreign players in the team, she said, "When I played abroad in franchise leagues I used to see their domestic players getting that exposure with international players and I always wanted it for our youngsters. Now it's happening, so it's great."