CHENNAI: Clarity. If one were to know the the primary factor behind Royal Challengers Bengaluru's second Women's Premier League title, that is the one word head coach Malolan Rangarajan would use.
Smriti Mandhana and Co rallied to beat Delhi Capitals in a high-scoring final at the BCA Stadium. Mandhana led the chase, scoring 87 of 41 balls before Radha Yadav gave the finishing touches.
They began laying the building blocks before the auction in November 2025. "We did a lot of study on what it takes to win the WPL. We have got a very good analyst in Jay Shelat C who did a good job, brought us up to speed, showed us areas and our own review of how we played in the last three years," he said hours after Thursday's win in Vadodara.
Another box that was ticked before the auction was to make it clear to the staff about the emerging trends and opportunities. "We communicated very early and the coaching staff was involved in the whole process, along with the extended staff — the medical team, the admin team — people were aligned," said the former Tamil Nadu cricketer. "Once we picked the team, we talked about clarity for players, on how we were going to play," he said.
Post that, it was about putting it into implementation. Their pre-season camp at the BKC ground in Mumbai was key in players being able to perform in different situations. "We worked behind the scenes a lot to understand and how to make it work (in) giving the players the role clarity and freedom to work and give them the time to get accustomed to that role. (In the camp) a lot of simulation work for the players for the roles that they might potentially be playing in (was implemented). So that helped us get different match winners in different games, different players putting up their hand," he explained.
The players in the camp were put into groups, and each had individual drills to work on for three hours a day. "Imagine doing that for about 5-6 days in the running of the game. So we tapered off their loads by the time the first game came. By the time we had our full squad, we had already shifted to Navi Mumbai (for first game vs Mumbai Indians on January 9)," he said.
One of the big beneficiaries from this camp was Nadine de Klerk. The South African all-rounder has been one of the standout performers this season. Her calm demeanour in middle-overs — when RCB seemed to be pegged back — has been key in her guiding through the tough waves.
The 26-year-old featured for RCB only once before this season in 2024, when they won the first title. "When she came in the first couple of days, she just had some volume work. Then we spoke to her about her role and finding out if she's going to be happy with it, with batting or bowling, making it absolutely clear. We got a little funky and creative with how we did our simulations that would challenge our players. She had an extended hit. The biggest difference (from the last two years) is obviously she's played so much cricket between now and the last time she was with RCB. She's grown as a player. The most important thing is she's understood her game a lot more now, knowing how to attack. She's worked on her batting extensively. So she's at that stage of her career where she's starting to take off and we're very happy to have her at the right time in RCB," Rangarajan explained.
Players can't think about final for six days
While Thursday's runners-up Delhi climbed their way to the final - winning their final league game against UP Warriorz and winning the Eliminator versus Gujarat Giants, table-toppers RCB played their last game on January 29 before the summit clash. That gap was used for players' time off. "Could we have practised for three extra days? I believe in absolute clarity in the way we want to function. Six days would have been too much training for the girls, especially when you're in the final. You don't want to be thinking about the final for six days straight. it was essential to take that break regardless. As a management, we were very clear there had to be a disconnect from the game for about two days at least. A few of them ended up going to Goa. I myself went back home (in Chennai) for a couple of days to attend to some personal work. A few of them stayed back in Vadodara. So it was totally up to the players what they wanted to do. The option was given," he said.
