Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s assistant coach Malolan Rangarajan didn’t just address the press. The incident occurred following RCB’s humiliating 6-wicket loss to Gujarat Giants.
This was in Match 11 of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. He unleashed a tirade that’s set to ignite a firestorm.
RCB is reeling from a third straight defeat. Rangarajan tore into his own team. He called out their star players for “choking under pressure.” He admitted he’s “sick of the excuses.”
Gujarat chased down 125/7 with a breezy 126/4 in 16.3 overs, powered by Ashleigh Gardner’s brutal 58 off 31 balls.
Sources close to the dressing room say Rangarajan’s post-match outburst was even more unfiltered behind closed doors.
However, what he said publicly was enough to send shockwaves through the cricketing world.
“I’m not going to pretend tonight was acceptable,” he snapped, his voice tight with frustration.
Smriti [Mandhana], Ellyse [Perry], Sophie [Devine] are supposed to be the best in the world. They’re choking when it counts.
Three games, three flops, and I’m sick of watching us fold like this.”
The assistant coach didn’t stop there, taking a swipe at the team’s lackluster effort:
“Gujarat didn’t beat us—they embarrassed us. Gardner treated our bowlers like amateurs, and we just stood there and took it.”
The timing couldn’t be worse—or more explosive. Gujarat Giants’ batting coach Daniel Marsh had already poked the bear in his own press conference. He smirked as he called RCB “overrated pretenders.” He said they made the win “too easy.”
Rangarajan’s response?
His public call-out of RCB’s biggest names—unprecedented for a franchise known for protecting its stars—has split the fanbase.
Some are hailing him as the wake-up call RCB needs in a 22-game season where playoffs are slipping away fast, with GG keeping their hopes alive while RCB flounders.
Others are outraged, branding him a traitor for airing dirty laundry instead of rallying the troops quietly.
Social media’s already ablaze. “Malolan’s right—Smriti and Perry are choking, time to bench them!” one fan tweeted, while another shot back, “He’s throwing the team under the bus to save his own skin—pathetic!”
Cricket pundits are piling on too, with one calling it “the most brutal honesty we’ve seen from an RCB coach,” while another warned, “This could fracture the dressing room beyond repair.”
With 11 games left before the Eliminator and March 15 final in Mumbai, Rangarajan’s rant has turned a bad loss into a full-blown crisis.
Will his scorched-earth approach light a fire under RCB, or has he just torched whatever unity was left?
One thing’s certain: Marsh’s taunts have pushed Rangarajan to a breaking point. Gardner’s heroics have also contributed to this. The WPL’s most passionate fanbase is about to pick sides in a war that’s only just begun.
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