Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Smriti Mandhana received a rousing welcome from fans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during the toss of the WPL 2025 clash against Mumbai Indians (MI). Following a week of action in Vadodara, the WPL has now shifted to Bengaluru, starting Friday (February 21).
RCB and MI are facing off in the opening match of the Bengaluru leg. MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bowl first. After the toss, the home crowd erupted in loud cheers for Mandhana, celebrating her leadership in RCB’s title-winning campaign last season.
The warm reception brought a smile to her face as she took a moment to embrace the atmosphere. You can watch the video here:
https://x.com/wplt20/status/1892940211371606346?s=46
“Good to Be Back with This Welcome”- Smriti Mandhana on RCB Fans Reception
After losing the toss, Royal Challengers captain Smriti Mandhana thanked the fans for their support and shared that it serves as a motivation for the players. She stated (via Cricbuzz):
“It’s good to be back and have this sort of welcome. I think it’s massive for the team to have fans around, it only motivates us. Whatever we do, we do for them. All the girls are really proud, we have done well in the last two games but we know Cricket is a game where we start from zero and we are charged up.”
She further continued:
“It looks like a good wicket, Vadodara had a lot of dew but Bangalore won’t have much dew. I don’t mind batting first here. We are going with the same eleven.”
RCB posted a respectable first-innings total of 167/7, powered by a stellar 81 off 43 balls from star Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry. She was supported by contributions from Smriti Mandhana (26) and Richa Ghosh (28).
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