Vadodara – On the eve of the Women’s Premier League final, the catch-phrase floating around both camps was, quite literally, “Chill maaro”. Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Smriti Mandhana and her Delhi Capitals opposite number Jemimah Rodrigues – close friends off the field – have reached the last match for the second time in three seasons, yet neither wants the occasion to feel suffocating.
Rodrigues has taken the longer, more hectic route, steering Delhi through an Eliminator and a qualifier in the space of five days. She admits the constant churn of matches began to weigh her down until she made a conscious decision to stop chasing perfection.
“I think I was doing one thing; I was trying way too hard,” Rodrigues said. “And the last two games, I just let go. I let go, backed myself, didn’t even go and practice because I was practicing so hard, trying to hit every ball perfectly and get everything right.
“Then I was like, you know what? I remember one of the interviews I heard. It’s like the butterfly, the more desperate you are, the further it goes away. But the more you just let go, it comes and sits on your shoulder. And that’s what I did. And I’m happy it’s coming. It’s coming off well.”
That mindset produced a breezy 41 from 23 deliveries in Tuesday’s Eliminator, an innings notable for its calm method rather than over-eagerness. Delhi supporters saw both versions of Rodrigues: exuberant in the field, collected with the bat.
Mandhana, by contrast, has enjoyed slightly more breathing space. With a six-day gap before the final, RCB decamped to Goa. The itinerary was deliberately loose: beach walks, a bit of golf, the odd impromptu dance from Shreyanka Patil and Radha Yadav. Mandhana soaked it up.
“Yeah, it was very important,” she said of the break. “Six days of thinking about cricket, who’s going to come, what’s going to happen and all of that. It’s better that we went off for the first two or three days. It was a good break for all of us because, of course, there were a lot of back-to-back games in the first three days.
“But again, coming back on [February] 2nd, 3rd and 4th, coming back practicing extremely hard, that’s something which has been the most important part for this team. And I’m really happy that everyone had that sort of a break and enjoyed it with each other and came back being very fresh. And again, looking forward to the finals because sometimes sitting in the hotel room, not doing much can cause a lot of overthinking. So I’m happy that we had that sort of a break and RCB took us to Goa.”
From a tactical point of view, Thursday’s contest looks tight. RCB’s top order has clicked all season but must now face a Delhi attack that mixes pace-off cutters with the wrist-spin of Poonam Yadav – a bowler capable of halting momentum in the middle overs. On the other side, Delhi’s batting has occasionally leaned too heavily on Rodrigues. She is averaging 43 in the tournament, yet the next best Capital sits below 30. RCB’s analysts will have noticed.
Still, Rodrigues believes those close shaves in the group phase have fostered resilience. “Yeah, it does feel different to the other years,” she said. “This year was a lot more hard work. But I think the way the girls stuck together stood out for me. Especially when things don’t go your way, it’s very easy for a team to scatter.
“But I think this team actually came together and those losses actually helped us bond a lot more and be a lot more together and come out of it. And I’m very proud of the character the girls have shown to pick themselves up, to come out and play the cricket that we are playing.”
The final, then, is not just a tactical duel. It is also a small study in sports psychology: two leaders openly advocating downtime as the antidote to pressure. Whoever lifts the trophy, their approach may offer a gentle template for coping with a tournament that packs international-level intensity into four frantic weeks.
First ball is scheduled for 7.30 pm local time. Whether the result hinges on Rodrigues’ butterfly or Mandhana’s beach-refreshed squad, both sides insist they will arrive loose, not lax – intent on playing hard, but also letting go.
