Royal Challengers Bengaluru (WPL)

Bengaluru based franchise in the Women's Premier League From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Royal Challengers Bengaluru, formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore, commonly known as RCB, is an Indian professional franchise cricket team based in Bengaluru, Karnataka that competes in the Women's Premier League. It is owned by Aditya Birla Group, the The Times Group and Blackstone. Malolan Rangarajan is the coach and Smriti Mandhana is the captain. RCB won the 2024 season, bringing home the first trophy for the franchise, and followed it up by winning their second WPL title during the 2026 season.[1] The team is the most popular and followed cricket franchise on Instagram with more than 23 million followers.[2]

NicknameRCB
CaptainSmriti Mandhana
(2023–present)
CoachMalolan Rangarajan
(2025–present)
Quick facts Nickname, League ...
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
NicknameRCB
LeagueWomen's Premier League
Personnel
CaptainSmriti Mandhana
(2023–present)
CoachMalolan Rangarajan
(2025–present)
OwnerAditya Birla Group
The Times Group
Blackstone
(2026–present)
Team information
CityBengaluru, Karnataka, India
Colours   
Founded2023; 3 years ago (2023)
Home groundM. Chinnaswamy Stadium
Capacity33,800
History
WPL wins2 (2024, 2026)
Official websiteWebsite

Regular kit

Close

History

In October 2022, the BCCI announced its intentions to hold a five-team women's franchise cricket tournament in March 2023.[3] The tournament was named the Women's Premier League in January 2023, with investors buying the rights to franchises through a closed bidding process during the same month.[4] Diageo, the owners of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, bought the rights to one of the franchises.[4]

In February 2023, Ben Sawyer was announced as head coach of the team.[5] The inaugural player auction for the WPL was held on 13 February 2023, Royal Challengers Bangalore signing 18 players for their squad.[6] On 18 February 2023, Smriti Mandhana was announced as the team's captain. The team finished fourth in the group stage at the inaugural tournament.[7]

In September 2023, Luke Williams was announced as the head coach for the 2024 season.[8] The team won three of their five Bangalore-leg matches, and then they went on to win one match out of their next three matches. Ending the league stage with four wins, the team qualified for the playoffs.

In the eliminator, the team defeated the defending champions — Mumbai Indians, to advance into the final. In the final, they defeated Delhi Capitals to win the title, this was the franchise's maiden title across both men's and women's leagues. Royal Challengers Bangalore's Ellyse Perry and Shreyanka Patil won the orange cap and purple cap respectively.

On 5 February 2026, Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated the Delhi Capitals in a thrilling final to secure the WPL 2026 title. Chasing a target of 204, RCB hunted it down in 19.4 overs with 6 wickets in hand to clinch their second championship in three years.[9]

Team identity

Kajaria Tiles was the official title sponsor of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the inaugural WPL season in 2023.[10] Mia by Tanishq and Dream11 served as principal partners, while Puma, Himalaya and Vega were associate partners. Zuno General Insurance was the official insurance partner for the 2023 season.[11][12]

Sponsorship

More information Year, Kit manufacturer ...
Year Kit manufacturer Front sponsor Back sponsor
2023 Puma Kajaria Mia
2024
2025 Alliance University
2026 Kalyan Jewellers
Close

Kit evolution

The official colours of Royal Challengers Bengaluru are red, black and gold.

2023–present

Squad

More information #, Role ...
# Role Nationality Player
18 Batter  India Smriti Mandhana (C)
13 Batter  Australia Georgia Voll
56 All-rounder  India Arundhati Reddy
42 All-rounder  India Dayalan Hemalatha
99 All-rounder  India Gautami Naik
29 All-rounder  Australia Grace Harris
17 All-rounder  South Africa Nadine de Klerk
88 All-rounder  India Pooja Vastrakar
90 All-rounder  India Prema Rawat
10 All-rounder  India Radha Yadav
33 All-rounder  India Sayali Satghare
21 All-rounder  India Shreyanka Patil
8 Bowler  England Lauren Bell
44 Bowler  England Linsey Smith
55 Wicket-keeper  India Prathyoosha Kumar
36 Wicket-keeper  India Richa Ghosh
Close

Coaching staff

More information Position, Name ...
Position Name Ref
Head Coach Malolan Rangarajan
Assistant Coach Anya Shrubsole [13]
Assistant Coach Sunetra Paranjpe
Batting Coach RX Muralidhar
Therapist Navnita Gautam
Doctor Harini Muralidharan
Team Manager
Head Physio Sabyasachi Sahoo
Assistant Physio Mitra Amin
Source
Close

Performance record

More information Year, League Standings ...
Year League Standings Final Standings Most Runs Most Wickets
2023 4/5 League Stage Sophie Devine Shreyanka Patil
2024 3/5 Champions Ellyse Perry Shreyanka Patil
2025 4/5 League Stage Ellyse Perry Georgia Wareham
2026 1/5 Champions Smriti Mandhana Nadine de Klerk
Total Champions x 2 Smriti Mandhana Shreyanka Patil
Close

Source

Captaincy record

More information Player, Duration ...
Player Duration Matches Won Lost Win Percentage Best Result
Smriti Mandhana 2023–present 35 18 17 51.42% Champions (2024, 2026)
Close

Player statistics

Most runs

More information #, Player ...
# Player Runs Innings Duration
1 Smriti Mandhana 1023 35 2023–present
2 Ellyse Perry 972 25 2023–present
3 Richa Ghosh 814 33 2023–present
4 Sophie Devine 402 18 2023–2024
5 Grace Harris 237 9 2026–present
Close

Source

Most wickets

More information #, Player ...
# Player Wickets Innings Duration
1 Shreyanka Patil 30 24 2023–present
2 Georgia Wareham 19 18 2024–2025
3 Nadine de Klerk 18 10 2026–present
4 Asha Sobhana 17 15 2023–2024
5 Ellyse Perry 14 20 2023–present
Close

Source

Awards

Women's Premier League

Others

More information Year, Award ...
Year Award Category Result Ref
2024 Indian Sports Honours Club of the Year Nominated
Close

See also

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI