Smriti Mandhana said that she doesn’t want Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to take ‘added pressure’ of playing in a big match when they face the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 final at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
After failing miserably in the inaugural WPL edition, Mandhana is on the verge of becoming the first RCB skipper to win any title. Mandhana said that instead of focusing on long-term goals, RCB have tried to enjoy one day at a time.
‘Each day at a time’
“I think last 25 days have all been about process-driven. We have not really thought about what we want to do or what our goal is. We really wanted to take each day at a time,” Mandhana said before the match.
“It’s still the same team, we think about what we have to do in training, which is really important, and then come out without thinking that this is Eliminator or a Final. All of those things are just added pressure. We will keep doing that and our work rightly,” she added.
The odds are stacked against RCB going into the final as they have never defeated the Capitals in WPL history out of 4 matches. In their previous meeting, DC won by 1 run in a match that went right down to the last ball.
The Challengers, however, will be confident after beating Harmanpreet Kaur’s Mumbai Indians (MI) in back-to-back games this season. Ellyse Perry picked up a 6-wicket haul in RCB’s last league match, after which she racked up a sparkling half-century in the Eliminator on Friday.
The Capitals, on the other hand, finished on top of the table and advanced directly to the final. Meg Lanning and Co. would want to make amends after finishing as the runners-up last season.
WPL 2024: Red-hot RCB look to break Delhi Capitals hoodoo in grand finale