‘Secret Meetings’ in UK, Return to Domestic Grind, Happy Culture: How Smriti Mandhana, RCB Scripted History in WPL 2024

It was March 2023 – the Women’s Premier League (WPL), in its second iteration, was underway; Virat Kohli met up with the RCB women’s squad and delivered a motivational speech to boost the morale of the Smriti Mandhana-led side.

“If there is a one percent chance, and sometimes that chance is good enough. But what matters is what you guys think about that one percent. Are you willing to give absolutely everything that you have to make that one into ten, then grow that ten into thirty and eventually, something magical might come out of it,” Kohli had said.

Cut March 17, that ‘magical one percent’ came true on the night at the Arun Jaitely Stadium, Delhi when Mandhana’s RCB got the better the second-time finalists Delhi Capitals to win their maiden WPL title. Kohl, via video call, congratulated the leader of the pack.

But how did that ‘one percent’ chance turn magical? Well, it’s a long story that Mandhana herself narrated in short while during a select media interaction a day after lifting the trophy in New Delhi.

Getting brains into gear

RCB had a horrid start to the season in 2023. 5 defeats in the first five games. They eventually managed with 2 wins off their last three games to finish fourth. The skipper herself was under the pump with 149 runs and not a single fifty. Just like other players, the culture was new to Mandhana who had just returned from South Africa after a heart-breaking loss to Australia in the semi-final that knocked India out of the T20 World Cup.

Following the conclusion of the WPL 2023, the think tank of the franchise – chairman Prathmesh Mishra and Rajesh Menon, the vice-chairman – held a review meeting which Mandhana too was part of.

“The biggest takeaway of that conversation was they were like, ‘This is your team and build the way you want to do it and set the culture.’ That was the biggest thing for me. And the second thing was that we really want to set a good culture,” Mandhana said during the interaction.

Getting Luke Williams on board

Interestingly, England’s ‘The Hundred’ played a vital role in head coach Luke Williams’ appointment. Mandhana, who was a part of the Southern Braves in ‘The Hundred’ last season, had worked with him during the tournament and positive feedback from teammate Tahlia McGrath made her life easier and of RCB.

Setting up the culture was one thing, but the franchise wanted a reliable figure to do so. And when Mandhana was asked for a suggestion, she didn’t think twice before naming Williams. Known for guiding the Adelaide Strikers to their first Women’s Big Bash League crown in 2022-2023 after two runners-up finishes, William was roped in as a replacement for Ben Sawyer.

“Of course, Ben was great. Nothing against him. But when management asked me, the first name that came to my mind was Luke’s. Because he’s really big on building a good culture, which is something which team needs when you are in the first two seasons, because if you set few things right, it’s going to carry for a very long time,” Mandhana said.

‘Secret Meetings’ to reignite the RCB fire

The roadmap to glory had somewhere started taking shape in the Hundred itself. She has already begun discussing all possible dynamics of the Bangalore team, starting from the auction strategy itself. Mandhana said she used to have ‘secret meetings’ with Williams to rejig the RCB dressing room.

“We were playing The Hundred, but that’s what me and Luke always used to joke around with Lottie [Charlotte Edwards] being there. Lottie is the coach there, but we had a few secret meetings of what we can do in auctions; and that I did definitely start during The Hundred when I was there in the UK. So I got the ball rolling from there,” she said.

A rough draft was ready in the UK back in August while Williams kept tracking the players. While Mandhana was back home the planning was underway.

“The Hundred was where we started chalking down names, started tracking few players like Sophie Molineux – she was injured, so we had to track her. Luke being from Australia really helped. He knew that. So those sort of plannings were there,” she said.

“I was just around. Of course, we were playing international cricket, so not too much head into it, but I was always there. One call, maybe in a month, what’s happening or what? I think we just really began playing like one team and one family. That was the biggest planning, to be fair,” she added.

Skipping BBL to unearth local talent in Domestic circuit

After zeroing in on the head coach and almost finalising the players’ draft, Mandhana’s next move was to hit the domestic circuit and unearth some hidden talents and also, fine-tune her skills on home soil. She admitted that playing too much cricket overseas had detached her from the Indian conditions and to gain that connection, the domestic grind was necessary.

“That was part of the plan. It helped me as a player as well as the RCB captain. I’ve not played domestic for 3-4 years. Sometimes when you don’t play and when you hear the names, you do not know what’s happening. And just watching videos doesn’t help.

“We have a great scouting team. But sometimes you really understand a player by facing them and recognising that she has a spark. So that was one decision.

“And secondly, for me as a player, I wanted to get used to the Indian conditions a lot more because last three years, two years, I think we just played overseas a lot more than in India. For me, it was just about going back to domestic and just trying to get used to the Indian conditions, go to the grind and just try and play the way I played. Because sometimes when you play a lot of international cricket, you forget a few things. You need to keep doing those basic things,” she said.

RCB Leadership – A Great Learning Experience

The WPL triumph comes as a reward for the relentless planning behind the scenes and the hard work of each one associated with the team. It’s a feat that the men’s team has not achieved in the 16-year-old history of the franchise. Kohli had been close to winning the trophy thrice in the past – in 2009, 2011 and 2016 but only to be left heartbroken.

Leading a ‘happy group’ of girls has been amazing for Mandhana. Moreover, to win the trophy and fulfil the dream of bringing the cup home was the most surreal thing.

“A great learning experience. I have captained a lot of domestic teams since I was 17 and a few international matches here and there. But of course, captaining something like a franchise cricket, especially an RCB team… wherever I’ve been, I’ve only heard ‘Ee Sala Cup Nam De’.  Even if you are really as strong as you are, you still feel like a little bit of pressure from that. So, I think it’s a good learning experience for me to feel those emotions,” Mandhana replied to a CricketNext query.

“Captaining such a happy group and backing each other, I think it just makes my job easier. I just feel I have said this, that the captain is as good as the team is. It’s not like we have some magic wand. It’s just like how the team environment is just about keeping the environment light. And to be fair, all the girls, be it overseas or Indian, everyone has just been amazing.

“Literally, even when we lost two matches, everyone was so positive. There are some things which happen on the field which you don’t expect. Like some things happened for us in Eliminator and even the last match turned around. I feel that it has a lot to do with the kind of environment we had and the positivity we created. Last question,” she concluded.