Renuka’s Redemption Lifting RCB Just When They Needed It The Most

Imagine a really sharp talented student who is acing every single test that’s given to her by her teachers. But there’s this one subject where she’s so poor that she can’t even pass it, forget getting a decent score. 

That’s how Renuka Singh Thakur might have felt about her run in the first two seasons of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Because she’s that bowler who had 58 T20I wickets for India at an average of 21.7, giving only 6.4 runs/over. She has an average of 16 with the ball against a strong side like England. 

However, her numbers in the WPL before this season feel more like Smriti Mandhana’s bowling numbers if she had bowled regularly — three wickets in 16 games at an average of 128.3, and an economy of 8.6! 

The numbers were so bad that RCB trolls on social media platforms made memes about Renuka winning the Purple Cap in the 2025 season. 

Guess what folks? This 28-year-old from a remote village in Himachal Pradesh is the highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with five scalps in just two games at an average of 9.6 and an economy of 6. 

Renuka isn’t just acing the test, which she was failing until now. She’s topping the class! 

RCB’s 2025 season was derailed even before it began because they lost three top wicket-takers from last season due to injuries. Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana and Sophie Molineux were the core of RCB’s title-winning campaign last season, along with Ellyse Perry and skipper Mandhana. 

However, all three being absent meant that Renuka couldn’t afford to be a side act anymore. She had to turn up in red like she turns up in blue, and boy, she showed up and how! 

“I had come here with a wicket mindset. I have focused a lot on fitness this time,” Renuka said while receiving the Purple Cap after her spell of 3/23 in the game. 

“I want to take wickets in the powerplay as the last two WPLs weren't great. Whenever I get a chance, I go to NCA and work with Troy [Cooley]. I am very comfortable with him.”

Renuka keeps mentioning Cooley when a question comes up about her bowling process, and the fitness work she has done for the season also shows in her pace. 

The way she got Shafali Verma in her first over against Delhi Capitals was a classic on-song Renuka kind of dismissal. She pitched the ball in good length around the 4th stump, and the ball came in with an angle to the batter, who 1) was cramped for room to go above the mid-off fielder and 2) mistimed the ball due to the skiddy inward movement.  

In the previous two seasons, such control on her swing and pace was missing from the first over itself, and the quality batters didn’t allow her to make early inroads at all, which is a specialty of her bowling. 

She also sent back the dangerous Annabel Sutherland by bowling a full delivery that she hit straight to the extra cover fielder. Meanwhile, she dismissed Shikha Pandey by following her as she was trying to make room to hit over the infield on the off side, but Renuka didn’t allow her the space to do that. 

Yet again, just like in the games she does well for India, her use of crease and accuracy in execution proved to be the key for Renuka as the batters failed to line her up. And for her, it was all about correcting her lines right at the moment if things went bad for her. 

“Sometimes I bowl wide of the crease, and then I tend to go down leg, so I get closer to stumps and correct my lines,” she said while receiving the Player of the Match for her performance. 

If Renuka can continue to make subtle changes in her bowling as she did on the day against the Capitals, the Indian setup would be extremely happy as well, with the ODI World Cup scheduled to be in India in the latter half of the year.  

Meanwhile, for RCB, Renuka’s redemption couldn’t have come at a better time. With two wins in two games where she was their star with the ball, Mandhana’s women would hope that the Purple Cap would remain there on her head for the rest of the season.