RCB Women stand up to 'Ee Sala Cup Namde' tagline as men's team still wait to break 16-year-old jinx

Add as a preferred source on Google

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Women delivered the franchise their first trophy by winning the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday (March 17).

The RCB Women sealed an eight-wicket win in the WPL 2024 Final over Delhi Capitals (DC) to end RCB's title drought, which has garnered more interest than Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) winning five IPL trophies each.

RCB Women are champions just in their second attempt, but the wait for the star-studded men's team is entering its seventeenth year now. Virat Kohli - one of the biggest names in the business who has been a part of the franchise since its inception - led the team for almost a decade but the team's wait to lift the coveted title continued.

Notably, the RCB men's team has lost the final twice. They have qualified for the playoffs eight times - third-most by a franchise. Faf du Plessis has been leading the Bengaluru-based franchise for the last two years, but the South African has also failed to get the team, which also includes the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik, and Mohammed Siraj.

RCB Women have shown how to do it just a week before the start of IPL 2024. Not to forget, the team led by Smriti Mandhana lost each of their first five matches in the inaugural season last year. They managed to win just two of their eight matches in WPL 2023, played in Mumbai.

This time around, they choke-slammed two heavyweights of the game in consecutive matches to lift the trophy. Defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) faced a five-run defeat in the Eliminator, before Delhi Capitals, last year's runners-up, were beaten on their home turf in the mega final.

IPL 2024: RCB Men Should Take Leaf Out Of RCB Women's Book

RCB Women gave their men's counterparts a perfect example of how to not choke under pressure. Delhi were cruising at 64 in just seven overs as Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma gave their team a flying start. But one wicket was all they needed to bounce back and bundle out DC for 113 in 18.3 overs.

They also did not take the run-chase lightly. They did not rush, avoided taking any risk, and took 19.3 overs to chase a paltry 114-run target. They kept things simple and under check, and maybe this is what the flamboyant men's team should also do.

While RCB women also had superstars like Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, Sophie Molineux et al in their lineup, the team never looked reliant on just these big guns. They played collectively as a team and tackled every situation together.

The superstars, in the men's squad, for once should play like normal cricketers and keep the outside noise away and look to focus on just that trophy and change the 'Ee Sala Cup Namde' to 'Ee Sala Cup Namdu' for their passionate 12th Army, for whom the franchise has dedicated its jersey #12.