Top News

News India Live, Digital Desk: It is said in cricket that “the match is not over until the last ball is bowled”, but sometimes some defeats sting the heart. Last night was like this for the fans of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in this season of Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026. After continuous good performance, the team has suffered its first defeat. The reaction of team captain and star batsman Smriti Mandhana after this defeat is understandable. She certainly looked disappointed, but not at all disappointed. “We had scored decent runs…” Often when a team loses, the first point of blame is on the batting. But Smriti Mandhana’s belief is a little different. During the presentation after the end of the match, Mandhana said in very clear words that the score of more than 140 (140 Plus) which her team had scored was not a bad score according to that pitch. Smriti said, “The way the wicket was, I thought that this total is such that we can defend. It was a score worth winning the match.” It was clear from her words that she expected her bowlers to save this score. Then where did the mistake happen? Instead of blaming any one player, Mandhana took it as a team game. He pointed out that the way the opposition team batted in the middle overs changed the course of the match. Sometimes that small difference of 10-15 runs decides victory or defeat. The captain believes that the bowlers were trying, but perhaps the plan could not be executed with the precision that was required. What next? Should fans worry? Not at all! There was definitely pain of defeat in Smriti Mandhana’s statement, but also tremendous confidence for the upcoming matches. This is their first defeat in WPL 2026, and it keeps happening in the game. He admitted that it was like a “wake-up call” (warning). RCB fans know that their team knows how to make a comeback. The captain has also made it clear that they will learn a lesson from this defeat and will come on the field with double the strength in the next match.