The much-awaited Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 kicked off with the opening clash between Gujarat Giants (GG) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on Saturday. The tournament opener saw a one-sided contest where the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai bulldozed Gujarat by 143 runs.
WPL will see a doubleheader on Sunday, where Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on Delhi Capitals (DC) in the first game. RCB will be captained by Smriti Mandhana, while the experienced campaigner Meg Lanning will lead the Capitals.
Ahead of the beginning of WPL, Smriti, in an exclusive chat with team mentor Sania Mirza, talked about various aspects of the game and expressed her excitement about leading the WPL side. During the chat, Sania quizzed Smriti about the latter’s jersey number 18, which, coincidentally, is also the jersey number of Indian superstar Virat Kohli.
“Number 18, it’s a very iconic number, right? What are your thoughts about that? Do you feel pressure? Do you feel privileged? What do you feel with that number on your back?” asked Sania in a video shared by RCB on Twitter.
“Well, I think I feel the same because I have had this number for the last 10 years,” said Smriti.
“RCB and jersey number 18 have gone along last 10 years. Of course, they have added me as well. I don’t know if that was the case in buying me, but I think I’m really happy to be part of RCB. Its an amazing franchise. We always see men’s IPL, and I’ve seen how much support they (RCB) get from fans,” added the left-handed batter.
Here’s the video:
The Smriti Mandhana Sania Mirza Interview
On Bold Diaries, Sania and Smriti caught up to discuss cricket, tennis, pressure, privilege, RCB, women and other inspiring anecdotes.#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #SheIsBold #WPL2023 pic.twitter.com/AFS9M6MFKa
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 5, 2023
Notably, Smriti was the most expensive buy in the WPL players’ auction. The Challengers roped her for a whopping INR 3.4 crore in the bidding event. The Mumbai-born cricketer has scored 2802 runs in 116 T20Is for India with the help of 22 half-centuries.
