Royal Challengers Bangalore T20 Domestic-w Cricket Team

With the Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited created for the sole purpose of franchise cricket, it was unsurprising to see them win a bid of INR 901 crore for the Bangalore-based women’s team. The company which is owned by United Spirits Limited, a part of the Diageo Group, has Mike Hesson as the Director of Cricket. The team will be named similarly to their equivalent men’s team and will be one of the five teams involved in the inaugural Women’s T20 League.

Ben Sawyer who is the current coach of the New Zealand Women's national team is highly regarded in the coaching circuits around the world for the success he has already achieved and will be the head coach of the side. He will be assisted by Malolan Rangarajan who will also be the Head of Scouting. Vanitha VR also has a dual role as a fielding coach and a scout while RX Murali has been assigned as the batting coach. India tennis player Sania Mirza was announced as the mentor of the team.

The franchise won the bid for the most expensive signing of the first mega auction when they shelled out INR 3.4 crore for India opener Smriti Mandhana and named her captain of the side. They spent decent money on signing Australian star Ellyse Perry with her national teammates Megan Schutt and Erin Burns also a part of the setup. Sophie Devine, Heather Knight, and Dane van Niekerk are the other overseas players they picked up for a low price with a chunk of their budget going into acquiring the services of India’s wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh and fast bowler Renuka Singh.

Even after being one of the strongest sides on paper, their performance on the field was disappointing as they managed only two wins in the 2023 Women’s T20 League and finished fifth. As a result, they released as many as seven players including the overseas trio of Dane van Niekerk, Erin Burns, and Megan Schutt. However, in the 2024 auction, they did manage to get Kate Cross who is a like-for-like replacement for Megan Schutt while Georgia Wareham can easily fill in the shoes of van Niekerk. Unfortunately, they will be without the services of Heather Knight this season but roped in in-form South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk as her replacement. Bangalore once again looks like a solid unit with all bases covered and will hope that they can show that on the field this time and at least make it to the playoffs this season.