Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Grace Harris, right, celebrates with Lauren Bell after taking a wicket. (BCCI via PTI Photo) BENGALURU: There is a quiet certainty about Royal Challengers Bengaluru this season – one forged not in noise but in belief. As the stakes rise in the Women’s Premier League, Lauren Bell and Gautami Naik spoke about a campaign built on confidence, timely contributions and a dressing room that has learned to breathe easy under pressure.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!For RCB, the journey was less about the stars and more about the collective brilliance – every role taken, every moment owned. The result: they were the first team to secure a place in the finals, winning six of their eight league games.
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One of the pillars was Lauren. The England pacer, who is in his first season with RCB, has taken 12 wickets in eight matches at a remarkable economy of 5.63. With 116 balls, she finished the league phase as the most economical bowler of the tournament.Speaking to select media on Monday, Lauren said, “We have a great balance of characters and players in the team. What makes RCB special is how different people raised their hands to give us a win.”“We’ve had five different match-winners in five games. I think that shows the depth we have. We’re all very clear about our roles as well,” added the pacer, who often bowled three overs in the Powerplay before coming back later to bring the breakthroughs – a system she and skipper Smriti Mandhana are well in sync with.
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Meanwhile, Gautami, the first uncapped player to score a half-century in the WPL, said keeping things simple was the key to RCB’s success.“So far we’ve kept it simple. We’ve supported each other. As a team, we push each other. In every difficult moment, someone steps up and takes a stand,” said the 27-year-old.Gautami, traditionally an opener, has shown flexibility with her batting this season and said she is ready to “play whatever role the team wants”.The Smriti-led side started their campaign with five straight wins before losing two on the trot. But putting worries aside, RCB bounced back strongly and ended the league stage with an eight-wicket win against UP Warriorz. Lauren believes those defeats have made the former champions a better unit heading into the finals.“When you win, you don’t learn a lot because everything is going well. But when you lose, there are a lot of areas where you can learn and move forward. That’s really key for us to get to the finals,” she said. “We’re also coming into this after a really strong win, so we’re in a very good place.After playing their last league match on January 29, RCB are heading into the finals after a week’s break. When asked if the gap could affect momentum, Lauren didn’t disappoint.“When you have a week between your last game and finals, you don’t want to think about finals the whole time because you’re going to be exhausted,” she said.“We spent time together outside the cricket environment to recharge. Now we are back with some training sessions to really prepare,” she signed off.
