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‘Lost Top 3 Wicket-Takers…’ Smriti Mandhana Rues Losing Shreyanka For WPL 2025

Aakash Saini

Smriti Mandhana and Shreyanka Patil [Source: @CricCrazyJohns, @mufaddal_vohra/x]Smriti Mandhana and Shreyanka Patil [Source: @CricCrazyJohns, @mufaddal_vohra/x]

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The RCB Women’s team upstaged Gujarat Giants by six wickets in a tall chase in the opening match of the WPL 2025 season. While the skipper herself failed to go big in the high-scoring evening, she heaped significant praises on Australian star Ellyse Perry and belligerent wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh for smearing burgeoning half-centuries.

Apart from gloating RCB’s opening win, captain Mandhana also lamented losing three of her leading wicket-takers from last year, spinners Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana and Sophie Molineux to their respective injuries.

RCB captain speaks on losing key players to injuries

While speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, RCB captain Smriti Mandhana highlighted the fact that her team is defending its WPL title this season with the absence of three of its most successful bowlers from last year.

While Shreyanka Patil won the ‘Purple Cap’ award for picking up 13 wickets in RCB’s title-winning run last year, her spin mates Asha Sobhana and Sophie Molineux also grabbed 12 wickets each.

Although Smriti Mandhana lamented the absence of her leading bowlers, she praised RCB’s bowling reserves and expressed confidence in the others to rise to the occasion. She said:

“We lost the top three wicket-takers of last year, but luckily, we had good options (coming in). Whoever has come in are brilliant replacement, which is good to have. Lots to work on as a bowling and fielding unit, so we will have good discussions about it.”

Smriti Mandhana also praised Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh for mounting blistering half-centuries to help RCB pull off a 202-run heist in Vadodara. She added:

“I am really happy that we were on the winning side. The way Richa and Pez (Perry) batted, it was amazing to watch. Brilliant to watch, they have been doing that in the nets. Really happy that things clicked. After the first innings, we knew it would be tough to bowl, so we always thought we were in the game.”

The RCB franchise will now face Delhi Capitals in match number four of the WPL 2025 season on Monday, February 17. The match will also be hosted the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.