Following the last group stage match for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) on May 18 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, which determined which of the two teams would qualify for the playoffs, RCB shared a video on their social media platforms interviewing Smriti Mandhana, Shreyanka Patil, and Jemimah Rodrigues live from the stadium.
Smriti Mandhana and Shreyanka Patil were part of the victorious RCB women’s team that won the 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL) on their second try, while Jemimah Rodrigues’ Delhi Capitals finished as runners-up in both editions in the WPL.
From the 2024 WPL champion team, captain Smriti Mandhana, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, and Renuka Singh were present to cheer on their men’s team.
Putting emotions in words, Smriti Mandhana stated, “Watching the match is much more stressful than actually playing, but happy we got a good score. Coming back reminded me of us playing at Chinnaswamy. Happy with the way boys have fought back throughout this season.”
When asked whether it is easier to watch a match or play in one, Shreyanka Patil responded that playing is definitely easier. She explained that while watching, she reacts to every ball, but when on the field, she knows what’s happening.
On the way, the boys have fought back this season, Mandhana added, “Pretty similar to the way we also did winning first 2-3 then having a few matches where you couldn’t perform the way. It takes a lot of guts to come back from that position and to have a chance to still qualify, I think that itself shows what character this team has.”
On the reunion, with RCB women and Rodrigues, Mandhana went on to say, “Yeah really excited to meet them again. Wearing this jersey after 2 months. Good to meet the girls and hopefully we win today, we can take a little bit of credit of that.”
Jemimah Rodrigues on rooting for the team and being in the Chinnaswamy environment said, “I am just here to support cricket honestly and no better time to come than Dhoni and Virat, I don’t know when I will get to see Dhoni next in the stadium that was my whole purpose of coming here and no fans like the Chinnaswamy fans, for sure!”
Patil added to this, “And she got the taglines, she’s like, “Who is our boss? DK!”, so she got all those things, so I am happy,” she also said, “It still feels like family because wearing the same jersey and I love RCB so obviously hope for the best.”
Skipper Mandhana noted that there was a lot more red in the crowd than she had ever seen on TV, indicating strong support for RCB. Patil mentioned that the support from the fans provided not only encouragement but also confidence, knowing that someone is backing them. Rodrigues observed that when the women’s team played, it felt no different from the men’s team, highlighting the enthusiastic support at Chinnaswamy for women’s cricket in general.
Meanwhile, after the RCB vs. CSK match, which went down to the last over with RCB narrowly winning, Shreyanka Patil took to X and posted – “There is a 1% chance.. and sometimes that is good enough.” To all of you who laughed at us when these images were being circulated, it ain’t too late! Jump onto the RCB train, you’ll be in for one crazy ride!!! This Team ❤️#RCB
In her post, she referred back to Virat Kohli’s pep talk to the RCB women’s Team last year during the inaugural WPL season after the team had lost five consecutive games.