Women's Premier League: RCB SWOT analysis, schedule for WPL 2024

The Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by India’s finest better Smiriti Mandhana, will be looking to overcome a horrid last season when they open their campaign against UP Warriors on Saturday, February 14 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.  

Strength 

A batting-heavy team, RCB will enjoy their outing in front of their home crowd at the M Chinnswamy. With a fast outfield, smaller boundaries and batting-friendly wicket, the likes of Mandhana, Ellyse Perry and Heather Knight, will be looking to make merry in the first half of the league. 

Richa Ghosh, who has been in stunning form of late, hitting crucial runs against Australi and England in the home season preceding the WPL, will be the MVP for the Bengaluru side. 

RCB WPL 2024 Schedule

Match No.	Date	Day	Match	Time (IST)	Venue
1	February 24, 2024	Saturday	RCB V UP	19:30	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
2	February 27, 2024	Tuesday	RCB V GG	19:30	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
3	February 29, 2024	Thursday	RCB V DC	19:30	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
4	March 2, 2024	Saturday	RCB V MI	19:30	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
5	March 4, 2024	Monday	UP V RCB	19:30	Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi
6	March 6, 2024	Wednesday	GG V RCB	19:30	Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi
7	March 10, 2024	Sunday	DC V RCB	19:30	Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi
8	March 12, 2024	Tuesday	MI V RCB	19:30	Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

Weakness

The RCB side be it men or women have had the problem of bowlers not clicking. In the last season, the Mandhana-led side was unable to stop the other team from chasing the targets down. Renuka Singh Thakur, Perry and experienced spinner Ekta Bisah, who was signed up by the team in the auction in 2023, will be key to the team’s performance. They must turn the tables around if RCB are to improve their showing. 

RCB player and their salary
Player name	Salary (rupees)
Ekta Bisht	60 Lakh
Georgia Wareham	40 Lakh
Kate Cross	30 Lakh
Simran Bahadur	30 Lakh
S Meghana	30 Lakh
Shubha Satheesh	10 Lakh
Sophie Molineux	30 Lakh
Asha Shobana	10 Lakh
Disha Kasat	10 Lakh
Ellyse Perry	1.7 Crore
Heather Knight	40 Lakh
Indrani Roy	10 Lakh
Kanika Ahuja	35 Lakh
Renuka Singh	1.5 Crore
Richa Ghosh	1.9 Crore
Shreyanka Patil	10 lakh
Smriti Mandhana	3.4 Crore
Sophie Devine	50 lakh

Opportunity 

The biggest opportunity in front of RCB is to play in front of their home crowd, the first leg of the WPL is being held in Bengaluru. They will have the backing of the intelligent Benguliuru cricket crowd and with the phenomenal talent they have up their sleeves, it's the biggest opportunity to make sure that they reach the playoffs, before going to Delhi for the second leg. 

Threat

The threat for the RCB women is the lack of quality homegrown players. Apart from Mandhana, Bisht, Ghosh and Renuka, there is no one that they can say is a game-winner. The likes of Kanika Ahuja, Indrani Roy S Meghana and Shubha Satheesh would have to step up, or else the team would be in problems much like last season.