Radha Yadav is no longer an unknown quantity at Number. 5, and RCB reaped the best possible reward out of it.
One got the impression that Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were lacking in batting when Radha Yadav came out to bat at No. 5 against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the first game of the WPL 2026.
Nadine de Klerk, Arundhati Reddy, and Shreyanka Patil were their Nos. 6, 7, and 8, and they had up to nine bowling alternatives that evening, including part-timers. When Radha was bowled through the gate by an Amelia Kerr googly for 1 off 2, the impression that it had a longish tail only intensified.
When RCB substituted Gautami Naik for a bowling all-rounder in the next game, the sentiment intensified. Radha was sent out again the next time RCB needed a No. 5 hitter, even though they didn’t require the middle order in that particular game. It was a difficult scenario this time. But not for Radha, not on the night, as she scored 66 off 47 balls to help RCB to 182 for 7, which proved 32 too many for Gujarat Giants (GG).
After two closed-door games due to the municipal elections, fans returned to DY Patil Stadium to see the most costly opening over in a WPL match—a 23-run over. However, in the following 4.3 overs, RCB lost four wickets for 22 runs, including captain Smriti Mandhana. Richa Ghosh joined Radha in the middle when she was out at 39 for 3, which quickly turned into 43 for 4.
As such, Radha is no stranger to the position. In domestic cricket, she bats in the top order for Baroda. Last year, she batted at No. 6 when captaining India A on their tour to Australia. As an all-rounder with the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the last WPL cycle and a regular for India, one of the most common, and a little lazy, narrative was that Radha’s fielding, apart from her left-arm spin, led to her being picked.
er batting wasn’t a talked-about facet – she has batted only 26 times in 89 T20Is, and had been needed to bat in only nine innings in 20 WPL games before Friday. But Mandhana, who famously let go of a WBBL opportunity to play domestic cricket in order to learn more about Indian players ahead of WPL 2024, which RCB won, knew of Radha’s abilities. Not just as a team-mate, but as a close friend, too.
Radha was dispatched ahead of schedule in order to postpone Ghosh and de Klerk’s entry points. However, inside six balls, Ghosh joined her in the middle, and Radha orchestrated RCB’s comeback following the powerplay. Playing herself in helped her withstand the storm. Before she hammered legspinner Georgia Wareham for a four and a six, she was on three off ten balls. From that point on, RCB scored at least one boundary every over until the eighteenth.
When RCB lines up to play DC in less than a day, it will be evident whether they will adjust their batting strategy following yet another top-order failure. However, Radha’s returns from No. 5 might give them the freedom to use additional bowling alternatives, which might result in someone like Georgia Voll spending more time on the bench.