Royal Challengers Bangalore are amongst the most popular teams in history of Indian Premier League. Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore are considered to be the crowd pullers of the tournament. While MI and CSK enjoy the perks of being the favourite teams as the two are joint most successful teams having 5 titles respectively to their names, RCB on the other hand had no title to their name. It's the only team whose popularity is immense irrespective of the fact that they had an empty trophy cabinet.

It's because of the extensive support of their loyal fans, who make this team wearing Red so successful. The fans have stood through the thick and thin for their team. They waited for the trophy for a significant amount of time, without a slight reduction of thier love towards their team and players. They came very close to winning it in 2009 under Anil Kumble and in 2011 under Daniel Vettori. They were left utterly disappointed in 2016 final, when a peaked Virat Kohli who was in sublime form couldn't win it. But still they didn't lose any hope of the title going ahead. And when men failed to live up their expectations, their women's team led by Smriti Mandhana gave them the best gift of their first ever WPL title yesterday.

The title win, just in the second season of Women's Premier League, gave the first taste of success of franchise, who welcomed it with both their arms. The loyal RCB fans rejoiced the moment with utter pride and happiness in their eyes. The legends of RCB in the form of Virat Kohli, Ab De Villiers and many heaped praises on the champion team. The Silicon Valley of India cherished the moment even more auspiciously then the country celebrates Diwali. And with all of it, Smriti Mandhana went into the history books of franchise for being the first ever captain to win a well deserved title for RCB.

The domination with which the team played in the league stages, it was evident that they are favourites to win the same, and break the jinx of being trophyless. In earlier editions of IPL, one always saw the men's team being equally dominant, if not more, but every time in spite of having global icons in the squad, they failed to make their mark when it mattered the most. And quite opposite to it, the team led by Smriti Mandhana which had a blend of youth as well as experience flared when it mattered the most for them. The final of the tournament was a testament of their ability to bounce back in the most difficult situations.

The domination of RCB is evident from the fact that the purple cap, the orange cap, and emerging player were all awarded to their players. The youngster who won hearts in the last WPL, Shreyanka Patil, had a great share in their success today. A sensational 4-wicket haul in the final, a crucial spell in the semi-final against defending champions MI and a total of 13 wickets in the tournament earned her a well deserved purple cap. Ellyse Perry, the best all-rounder in the history of women's game won the orange cap, and significantly contributed with the bat thereby having a lioness' share in the trophy win. RCB also gave a promising player in the form of Shobhana Asha.

Apart from just the individuals, the team went on to win the fair play award as well. All these awards are a cherry on the pie of their first ever title win. It's pleasing to see the RCB fans happy, as they have patiently waited for their team to be at the place it is today and have loved the team in spite of the men's team repeated failures. And this win will certainly help them to support their team even more going ahead in the IPL starting from 22nd March. Smriti Mandhana and her team have not just lifted the spirits of RCB fans, but thanks to a huge RCB fanbase, this victory has opened up a huge fanbase to explore and watch women's cricket going ahead. More than the franchise, women's cricket needed a team like them to win the title to increase the popularity of the game multifold. And in future, one wishes to see this happen. We congratulate Smriti Mandhana and RCB for their triumph.