3 things that changed in RCB Women after Virat Kohli's speech

UP Warriorz's (UPW) victory against Gujarat Giants (GG) on Monday, March 20, sealed Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) fate in the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL). They were knocked out of the competition with one league match still left to play.

Bangalore had the worst start to their campaign, losing five straight games. However, they looked like a different team in the last couple of matches. They defeated UPW by five wickets before thrashing the Giants by eight wickets.

Smriti Mandhana and Co. have played a different brand of cricket ever since Virat Kohli met the girls ahead of their game against the Warriorz. The former RCB skipper gave a pep-talk to the girls and spoke about how the men's side were in a similar position in the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and made a comeback from thereon.

“I’ve been playing IPL for 15 years, and I haven’t won it yet," Kohli said in a video shared by the franchise. "But that doesn’t stop me from being excited every year. That’s all I can do. That’s the effort I can put into every game and every tournament that I play.

“If we win, great. If we don’t, then I am not going to go to my grave thinking that if only I had won an IPL, I would be a happy man. It doesn’t happen like that. So always think about the opportunity that you have rather than how bad it is right now. There is always a flip side to it, and it could always be worse than this, he added.

The session with Kohli has certainly made a change in the RCB camp and the players have looked all charged up in the last two games.

On that note, let's take a look at three things that changed in RCB Women after Kohli's speech.

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#1 RCB have played an aggressive brand of cricket

After a couple of defeats at the start of WPL 2023, the team looked pale and lacked intent. However, Kohli's speech motivated players, whose body language on the field has looked aggressive ever since.

The change in approach has also transpired into results, with RCB winning both their games by big margins. The entire squad will hope to keep the intent going and finish the campaign on a winning note.

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#2 Smriti Mandhana regaining form

Smriti Mandhana had a woeful start to her WPL 2023 campaign, managing only 88 runs in five matches. She lacked rhythm and gave away wickets with poor cricketing shots.

However, Kohli's pep-talk seems to have boosted the confidence of the RCB skipper as well. Although she was out for a duck against Alyssa Healy and Co., Mandhana looked good during her 37-run knock against Gujarat.

The southpaw will look to end the campaign on a high in their last game against the Mumbai Indians.

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#3 Boosted confidence of the domestic cricketers

RCB's main weakness in the first half of the competition was the lack of contribution from their domestic players. The likes of Kanika Ahuja, Preeti Bose, and Sobhana Asha, among others, failed to chip in with significant contributions.

However, Virat Kohli's talk might have done a world of good to the domestic stars. Since then, Kanika (46 off 30) played a match-winning knock against UP Warriorz and Asha bowled a good spell, picking up two wickets.

Domestic cricketers making useful contributions have done a world of good to RCB in the last two games.