Cross will compliment Renuka well: Mandhana

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Smriti Mandhana hoped that veteran England pacer Kate Cross could complement Renuka Singh and fortify her team's bowling, particularly in the Power Play, in the second edition of the Women's Premier League 2024.

The Royal Challengers had acquired Cross in the player auction on Saturday for Rs 30 lakh, and the 32-year-old brings with her a rich experience of playing franchise cricket for teams like Brisbane Heat and Manchester Originals.

"We have Kate Cross now, and I think she will complement (pacer) Renuka well in the power play with both swinging the other way," said Mandhana in a release issued by the RCB.

RCB's focus was more on garnering more bowlers and all-rounders than specialist batters, and Mandhana said the team attended the auction precisely with that target in mind.

Apart from Cross, RCB bought Ekta Bisht (left-arm spinner), Georgia Wareham (leg-spinner), Sabbineni Meghana (all-rounder), Simran Bahadur (medium-pacer), Sophie Molineux (left-arm spinner) and home-grown talent Shubha Satheesh (all-rounder).

Mandhana explained the buys.

“Bowling is definitely very important in T20s. This year, we were looking to strengthen our spin unit and also look for overseas pacers who could complement Renuka [Singh] well," she said.

"With Molineux and Wareham with us, the bowling looks very experienced. We also have the likes of Shreyanka [Patil], [Sophie] Devine and [Ellyse] Perry.”

RCB had a poor outing during the inaugural WPL, finishing fourth in the five-team league and they failed to enter the playoffs.

RCB squad for WPL 2024:

Smriti Mandhana, Asha Shobana, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Indrani Roy, Kanika Ahuja, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Sophie Devine, Georgia Wareham, Kate Cross, Ekta Bisht, Shubha Satheesh, Sabbineni Meghana, Simran Bahadur and Sophie Molineux.