Smriti Mandhana has been very strong in bringing calmness to the group, says RCB coach Luke Williams

New Delhi: Ahead of their Eliminator clash against Mumbai Indians in WPL 2024 on Friday, Luke Williams, the head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore, has credited captain Smriti Mandhana for being a very strong figure in terms of bringing calmness to the team, which in turn has been one of the key reasons behind them making the playoffs for the first time.

Smriti has been the side’s leading run-getter in WPL 2024 with 259 runs in eight matches, including two half-centuries. As a leader, she’s given an assured look in taking the team to playoffs, which was missing from last year’s tournament, where RCB lost their first five games to be ousted quickly from the race to knockouts.

“Smriti is having a fabulous tournament with the bat and in her leadership too. The experience of last year’s campaign and having 12 months to plan, review and look at the different aspects of how the team should be has been helpful.”

“Smriti has been fundamental in all sort of that planning ahead of this tournament and has been very strong in bringing that calmness to the group, which has been really important by Smriti in being the leader on and off the field. So, delighted with her leadership and how she’s dealing with it,” said Williams in the pre-match press conference.

Apart from Smriti, Sabbhineni Meghana has shined for RCB in the matches she’s played, though the right-handed batter didn’t feature in the last few games, with Sophie Devine and Sophie Molineux taking turns to be partnered alongside Smriti at the top in her absence.

Williams put it down to RCB trying other combinations, while indicating Meghana has a strong chance to play Friday’s eliminator at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. “Meghana has missed out on the last game or two due to the different combinations that we were trying. It was a really tough decision with her, as she performed really strongly in one of our earlier wins.” IANS

Also Read: Smriti Mandhana jumps to No. 4 spot in Women’s ODI batters in the latest ICC rankings

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