Decoding Smriti Mandhana's struggles in WPL 2023: Key Stats
Royal Challengers Bangalore Women broke the bank to sign star Indian batter Smriti Mandhana at the Women's Premier League (WPL) auction. However, Mandhana was a major disappointment throughout the season as RCB finished second-last in the WPL standings. While many feel that it is the pressure of leading a franchise that hampered her batting, Mandhana will look to come back stronger. Here's more.
Mandhana had a forgettable WPL
Many people anticipated Mandhana to take the inaugural WPL by storm but they were left disappointed. In eight matches, she could only manage 149 runs at a paltry average of 18.62. She struck at only 111.19 and 37 was her highest score this season against Gujarat Giants. Her scores in the WPL 2023 read: 35, 23, 18, 4, 8, 0, 37, and 24.
Struggle against Spinners
Mandhana was dismissed by a spinner in seven of her eight outings in the tournament. Delhi Capitals' Shikha Pandey was the lone pacer to get her out in match number 11. As per ESPNcricinfo, Mandhana was dismissed inside 10 overs across all of her 8 WPL innings. In five of her innings, Mandhana was dismissed inside the powerplay overs.
A look at her International numbers
Mandhana has managed 2,802 runs in 116 WT20Is at 27.74. She is also the second-highest run-scorer for India in WT20Is, only behind Harmanpreet Kaur (3,058). She has also hammered 3,073 runs in 77 WODIs at 43.28 (100s: 5, 50s: 25). In Women's Test matches, Mandhana has scored 325 runs at 46.42. She has one century and two fifties.
Here's a look at RCB's numbers this season
RCB finished fourth in the WPL 2023 standings, only ahead of Gujarat Giants in terms of NRR. RCB's only two wins came against the UP Warriorz and GG. RCB recorded the highest successful chase in WPL 2023 over GG (189/2). Sophie Devine finished as the highest scorer with 266 runs for RCB while Shreyanka Patil led the wickets column (six wickets).
