'Our team balance has improved': RCB skipper Mandhana

RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana says her teams balance has improved considerably after acquiring new players and it should help them do a better job in the second season of the Womenrsquos Indian Premier League 2024 starting February 23Royal Challengers Banaglore had endured a tough inaugural season in 2023 as it lost six of the eight matches and finished fourth in fiveteam competition The second season will be played in New Delhi and BengaluruRCB had spent close to 25 crore to acquire services of many impact players like Ekta Bisht leftarm spinner Kate Cross pacer Georgia Wareham legspinner Sabbineni Meghana allrounder Simran Bahadur mediumpacer Sophie Molineux leftarm spinner and homegrown talent Shubha Satheesh allrounderI would definitely want it to be better than the first season From RCBs point of view quite a few players were released and we brought in new players So the balance has improved for sure and we are hoping to live up to our potential Mandhana told JioCinemaThe team had released seven players Komal Zanzad Poonam Khemnar Preeti Bose Sahana Pawar Dane van Niekerk Erin Burns and Megan SchuttThe stylish batter said playing the domestic season has not only prepared her well for the upcoming WPL it also she helped her identify a few good playersPlaying in the domestic season helped me practice well and we saw quite a few girls against whom weve not played previously I was able to recommend a few names to my franchise after seeing these girlsAlso ReadWPL 2024 Complete schedule live streaming details teams and moreRCB had released a few members and bought as many as six new players during the WPL auction last DecemberLast year when we joined the team two days before the tournament we didnt know about 9037 of the players We didnt know what they did and what they didnt This year it was important to know their strengths and weaknesses so that we can play better The WPL is a short tournament and its difficult to change things when its onAsked if she considers RCB as title contenders the southpaw said We dont want to think too far ahead We definitely want to do better than last year and are motivated to do it The people at our franchise are very nice and have supported us immensely so more than anything else we want to win the trophy for themThe way they backed us even after four losses last season the conversation revolved around our wellbeing So as players it is very important that we respect the backing we are getting and also try to win the trophy for our fans who supported us so much last seasonOpening the batting Mandhana could manage only 149 runs with a highest score of 37 in the first WPL seasonLast year I was not able to deliver the performance expected of me This time I dont want to repeat the mistakes of last year and give the team a platform from where we can launch Our batting lineup is very good As a captain I know the players better this time she saidRoyal Challengers Bangalore will open their Womenrsquos Indian Premier League 2024 campaign against UP Warriors in Bengaluru on February 24With agency inputs