Frenemies for a hot minute

Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues stand on opposite sides of the glittering WPL trophy as cameras click away.

Mandhana's RCB, the most commanding team of the season, are on the verge of becoming concurrent champions and scripting history. Rodrigues' Delhi Capitals, the most consistent team in competition history, are one win away from breaking the curse. Yet, from the mood on finals eve, these stakes don't seem to weigh them down.

They head into the WPL 2026 final wearing different colours, but opposite dugouts can't undo years of growing up together in the sport. They have shared more than just dressing rooms and victories.

There's non-stop banter throughout. A lot of hand-gesturing—mostly from Rodrigues—followed by giggling, mostly from Mandhana. Playful nudging from both, and posing for cameras: something that doesn't come naturally but they've grown accustomed to.

When asked to do a stare-down, they break character. Retakes prolong the exercise. But they've endured far more over the rollercoaster of recent months.

When anxiety affected Rodrigues' form, confidence, and joy, Mandhana was her support system away from home—a sounding board for technique and unspoken battles. Together they went on to win the World Cup, a shared career-defining triumph that ended a drought in Indian women's cricket.

RCB know this longing. Under Mandhana's leadership in 2024, against DC, the franchise ended a 17-year wait. In the chaos that followed, she famously ran back to the dressing room for solitude. Upon returning, her first instinct was not the podium but the Delhi dugout. She hugged her people—Rodrigues first, then Radha Yadav and Arundhati Reddy. Two would later join her at RCB.

This bond forged on the field grew stronger off it. When Mandhana faced a deeply personal setback, Rodrigues stayed. Professional commitments took a backseat—a WBBL stint forgone, shoots postponed. She chose the one who had become family. Nothing to fix, nothing to explain. Just presence. Rodrigues returning the support she herself had known.

Now they stand across from each other, and the game demands rivalry. But banter keeps seeping back in; they can't keep game faces on long before cracking up again.

"Just chill as much as you can."

Rodrigues said it first, in jest, advising Mandhana on enduring the wait between qualification and final.

Minutes later, roles reversed. Mandhana was asked what advice she offers the first-time captain across the table, having led her franchise to a drought-ending title. She didn't search for new words.

"Just chill as much as you can." This time, both said it almost in perfect sync.

Both Rodrigues and Mandhana's RCB have been kicking back lately—in Vadodara's laidback cafes and on Goan beaches respectively. Both return refreshed, with game faces on ahead of the final.

Rodrigues' rise at DC was planned but came with a steep learning curve. Three seasons under Meg Lanning reshaped her leadership understanding before the baton passed. The road to the final, unlike previous ones, was rocky, peppered with losses testing belief. On her young shoulders rests the chance to replace heartbreak with an ending DC have chased since the beginning.

Mandhana has tasted this success before. But her captaincy start in the high-stakes franchise circus wasn't too dissimilar: losses, learnings from Lanning, and a spectacular fightback that brought home a trophy in 12 months. Now, it's about asserting dominance to end the WPL trope that top seeds always falter.

Thursday decides who lifts the ultimate prize. For a hot minute, they'll set friendship aside. But once the final ball is bowled? They'll find each other again, like they always have.