| File:Royal Challengers Bengaluru Logo.svg | ||
| Nickname(s) | RCB | |
|---|---|---|
| League | Women's Premier League | |
| Personnel | ||
| Captain | Smriti Mandhana (2023–present) | |
| Coach | Malolan Rangarajan (2025–present) | |
| Owner | Aditya Birla Group The Times Group Blackstone (2026–present) | |
| Team information | ||
| City | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | |
| Colours | ||
| Founded | 2023 | |
| Home ground | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | |
| Capacity | 33,800 | |
| History | ||
| WPL wins | 2 (2024, 2026) | |
| Official website | Website | |
| ||
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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]
History[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
| Year | Kit manufacturer | Front sponsor | Back sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Puma | Kajaria | Mia |
| 2024 | |||
| 2025 | Alliance University | ||
| 2026 | Kalyan Jewellers |
Kit evolution[edit | edit source]
The official colours of Royal Challengers Bengaluru are red, black and gold.
     2023–present |
Squad[edit | edit source]
| # | 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 |
Coaching staff[edit | edit source]
| 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 | ||
Performance record[edit | edit source]
| 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 | |
Captaincy record[edit | edit source]
| Player | Duration | Matches | Won | Lost | Win Percentage | Best Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smriti Mandhana | 2023–present | 35 | 18 | 17 | 51.42% | Champions (2024, 2026) |
Player statistics[edit | edit source]
Most runs[edit | edit source]
| # | 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 |
Most wickets[edit | edit source]
| # | 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 |
Awards[edit | edit source]
Women's Premier League[edit | edit source]
| Year | Award | Recipient | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Most Sixes | Sophie Devine | |
| 2024 | Orange Cap | Ellyse Perry | [14] |
| Purple Cap | Shreyanka Patil | ||
| Best Strike Rate | Georgia Wareham | ||
| Emerging Player of the Season | Shreyanka Patil | ||
| Fairplay Award | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | ||
| 2026 | Orange Cap | Smriti Mandhana | |
| Best Strike Rate | Grace Harris |
Others[edit | edit source]
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Indian Sports Honours | Club of the Year | Nominated |
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "On This Day: Royal Challengers Bengaluru win WPL, their first-ever title, defeat Delhi Capitals in 2024 final". The Indian Express. 17 March 2025. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
- ↑ Rathod, Karan Singh (31 March 2025). "Royal Challengers Bengaluru Overtake Chennai Super Kings, Become Most-Followed Team On Instagram". Times Now. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
- ↑ "Inaugural Women's IPL likely to be played from March 3 to 26". ESPNcricinfo. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Owners of Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, RCB win bids to own Women's Premier League teams". ESPNcricinfo. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ↑ "RCB name Australian Ben Sawyer as head coach for WPL". The Indian Express. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ↑ "Bid-by-bid updates - 2023 WPL auction". ESPNcricinfo. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ↑ "Women's Premier League 2022/23 - Table". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ↑ "RCB appoints Big Bash winner Luke Williams as head coach for WPL". Royal Challengers Bangalore. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ↑ "RCB Beat DC in Thrilling Final to Win WPL 2026 Title". KhelWire. 5 February 2026. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
- ↑ "IPL and WPL teams hurry to secure last-minute deals, RCB and MI active". Sportcal. 3 March 2023.
- ↑ "Zuno and RCB a truly fitting match". Zuno General Insurance.
- ↑ "Official Insurance Partner". RCB-Twitter.
- ↑ "RCB appoint Anya Shrubsole as assistant coach for WPL 2026". royalchallengers.com. 9 November 2025. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ↑ "WPL 2024 Full List of Awards: RCB's Ellyse Perry grabs Orange Cap, Shreyanka Patil takes Purple; Deepti Sharma MVP". Hindustan Times.
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