Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women’s (RCB) coach Malolan Rangarajan has revealed that captain Smriti Mandhana was very ill before the WPL 2026 final against DC. The RCB opener was named the Player of the Match for her stupendous 87-run knock in the run-chase that resulted in the team lifting their 2nd title. Rangarajan revealed that Mandhana had a 103-degree Celsius fever before the game and had battled through it to take RCB across the line.
How an ‘ill’ Smriti Mandhana powered RCB to 2nd WPL title
Addressing the dressing room after their 2nd WPL win RCB Women’s coach Rangarajan applauded Smriti’s efforts in the WPL 2026 final against DC, and heaped praise on her for turning up for the epic clash without any complaints despite being ill. Mandhana finished with 87 runs to her name from 41 balls, and struck 12 fours and three sixes before she was finally dismissed by Chinelle Henry.
“Smriti, thank you so much for being such a wonderful captain. And to have turned up for this game without any complaints. I know how ill you were last night. The effort you put in. For people who didn’t know, she was at 103 last evening. She has done whatever she could behind the scenes to be fully fit and available for us. So thank you, Smriti,” said RCB coach Malolan Rangarajan in his dressing room speech.
Batting second in the WPL 2026 final, RCB chased down the 204-run target with 2 balls to spare. Leading the charge were captain Mandhana and Georgia Voll – with her 79-run knock off 54 deliveries. With this win, RCB Women have lifted their second title 3 years, having previously won the WPL in 2024. Talking about Smriti, she finished as the leading run-getter of WPL 2026 with 377 runs in nine games at an average of 53.86 and a strike rate of 153.25.
