2 min readMar 17, 2026 06:18 PM IST
A couple of years ago, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans could finally chant ‘Ee sala cup namdu’ instead of ‘Ee sala cup namde’ after eons of waiting. But the twist was, it was the women’s team rather than the men’s which managed to reach the summit first when a Smriti Mandhana-led outfit guided RCB to their first Women’s Premier League (WPL) trophy in 2024. The men’s team would follow suit in 2025 when they won the Indian Premier League trophy after a wait of 18 years. But it was the women who showed the way.
It was March 17 of 2024 when RCB faced Delhi Capitals (DC) for the title in the WPL summit clash in Delhi. The toss was won by DC and they elected to bat first but could only manage 113 runs. Shafali Verma top-scored with 44 while captain Meg Lanning chipped in with 23. Shreyanka Patil was the pick of the RCB bowlers, snapping up 4 wickets while Sophie Molineux took 3 scalps.
Chasing a paltry total, RCB lost captain Mandhana for 31 and Sophie Devine for 32 before Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh slammed 35 and 17 respectively to drag RCB to their first title in 19.3 overs.
“Our Bangalore leg was really good. We had two tough losses here. And then that is what we talked about. The last league match was like a quarterfinal for us, then a semifinal and now the final. In such tournaments, you have to peak at the right time, so we saved our best for the last,” captain Mandhana said after the match.
“I have a message for all the RCB fans, the most loyal fanbase. Nothing would have been possible without their support. Ee Sala Cup Namde (‘this year the cup will be ours’ in Kannada) always comes up when speaking about RCB. Now I just want to say Ee Sala Cup Namdu (this year the cup is ours),” she added.
