Ellyse Perry, the star all-rounder of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), believes that Smriti Mandhana, the under-pressure captain, is still adapting to the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023. Perry supports the Indian vice-captain, stating that she will improve with challenging experiences, and praises her as a “great captain.”
RCB skipper Mandhana got dismissed for four in their recent WPL 2023 match against UP Warriorz at Brabourne Stadium on March 10. The team’s poor performance in the tournament persisted as they lost to UP Warriorz by ten wickets, marking their fourth consecutive defeat.
As the most expensive purchase at the WPL 2023 auction for a whopping ₹3.4 crore, Smriti Mandhana has struggled to perform both as a batter and captain. Following Bangalore‘s humiliating loss to UP, Ellyse Perry spoke at a press conference and expressed support for her captain, acknowledging the challenges she is facing. she said:
“Knowing Smriti and how proud and responsible she is for her own game, there’s probably no more pressure on her than what she puts on herself.
“It’s a ginormous task to come into a brand new competition and play with a group of players that she has never played with before and try and make that all gel in a matter of a couple of days since she joined the group.”
Perry described the 26-year-old Mandhana as an incredible player and a great captain. According to Perry, the game has already taught Mandhana a lot as a captain and batter, which will make her even better in the future. Perry also pointed out that Mandhana is still young and has much growth potential. She believes that Mandhana needs time to find her footing in the tournament, and once she does, she will undoubtedly improve.
In the four matches played by RCB in WPL 2023, Mandhana scored 35, 23, 18, and 4.
Smriti Mandhana takes responsibility for the team’s loss against UP.
Mandhana took responsibility for Bangalore’s fourth consecutive loss in WPL 2023, stating that they need to put up more runs on the board. Their next match is against Delhi Capitals on March 13 at the DY Patil Sports Academy.
