It’s exciting time ahead: Smriti Mandhana after joining Royal Challengers Bangalore after WPL auction

Smriti Mandhana, who received the highest bid of the inaugural WPL auction and was picked up the Royal Challengers Bangalore Rs 3.4 crore shared her thoughts about being a part of the franchise
“I think it’s been over last ten years we’ve been watching auctions for men and it was just amazing because I’m always glued to auctions of men whenever they used to happen. It’s such a big movement for women’s cricket too for us to have an auction of this sort. I think this is hory, firstly the announcement of WPL and then this auction. I think the whole thing is exciting and I’m saying it’s exciting time ahead,” she said in a video shared on the JioCinemas official handle.
“I think the legacy of RCB is way high because this franchise is exing from past 10 years for men’s IPL and they have built a huge fan base. So, yeah, really excited to be part of such a big franchise and I hope that we both can together build a great team,” she added.

🗣: Namaskara Bengaluru! Very happy to be picked @RCBTweets. They have a great fan base.@mandhana_smriti is pumped to #PlayBold in #WPL 🏏#WPLAuction LIVE on #JioCinema & #Sports18 📺📲#WPL #WPLonJioCinema #WomensPremierLeague pic.twitter.com/JuRFRPnuVe
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 13, 2023
The southpaw, who is currently part of the Indian team in South Africa for the Women’s T20 World Cup, sparked a bidding war between Mumbai Indians and the Bangalore franchise early in the auction.
“Namaskara Bengaluru”, I think that’s how they say and also excited about wearing the red colour and going out there and trying to get the cup. All the fans keep supporting us and we will try and have a great tournament,” Mandhana said before signing off.
Mandhana, who was named vice captain of the Indian team across formats last year after Mithali Raj announced her retirement, is likely to captain the Bangalore WPL side as well per Mike Hesson.