“She just needs a chance to find her feet” - Ellyse Perry backs Smriti Mandhana after RCB’s horror start to WPL 2023
Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) star all-rounder Ellyse Perry reckons that under-fire skipper Smriti Mandhana is still looking to find her feet in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023. Backing the Indian vice-captain to get better with tough experiences, she went on to describe Mandhana as a ‘great captain’.
RCB skipper Mandhana was dismissed for four in the WPL 2023 match against UP Warriorz at the Brabourne Stadium on Friday, March 10. Bangalore’s dismal run in the tournament also continued as they succumbed to their fourth consecutive loss, going down to UP Warriorz by 10 wickets.
Mandhana was the most expensive buy at the WPL 2023 auction at ₹3.4 crore. However, she has failed to deliver, both as a batter and captain. At a press conference following Bangalore’s embarrassing defeat to UP, Perry opened up on Mandhana’s struggles. Backing her captain, she commented:
“Knowing Smriti and how proud and responsible she is for her own game, there’s probably no more pressure on her than what she is putting 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.”
Four consecutive losses for RCB ❌
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Describing the 26-year-old as an incredible player, Perry went on to add:
“I think she’s a great captain too. She just needs a chance to find her feet in the tournament and she will no doubt. But the bigger picture (is), it's just going to mean we are going to see an even better version of Smriti after this.
"There’s so much that she has learned from this competition already, both as a captain and as a batter, to make her even better in the future. She’s only a youngster right.”
Mandhana has registered scores of 35, 23, 18, and four in RCB’s four matches in WPL 2023 so far.
“I take the blame as well” - Smriti Mandhana after defeat to UP
Speaking after Bangalore’s fourth defeat in WPL 2023, Mandhana admitted that she has let the team down. Stating that they need to put up more runs on the board, the RCB captain commented:
“In the last four games, it's been happening. We start well and then lose a cluster of wickets. I take the blame as well. Need to get runs on the board for the bowlers to defend. Overs 7-15 we spoke about getting 7-8 per over. We're trying to get a balanced team. Let's see how it goes.”
RCB v UPW: WPL Game Day
4th consecutive loss and Mike Hesson says, ‘It’s upon each and every individual to reflect on their performances and put in their best in the remainder of the tournament, to get us out of the situation we’ve put ourselves in.’
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Bangalore’s next match in WPL 2023 will be against Delhi Capitals at the DY Patil Sports Academy on Monday, March 13.