When Radha Yadav walked out to bat at No. 5 against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the opening match of WPL 2026, one got the sense that it was because Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were light on batting.

Their Nos. 6, 7 and 8 were Nadine de Klerk, Arundhati Reddy and Shreyanka Patil, and they had as many as nine bowling options, part-timers included, on the night. The feeling that it was a longish tail only grew when Radha was bowled through the gate by an Amelia Kerr googly for 1 off 2. The feeling grew when RCB added an extra batter in Gautami Naik in the following game in place of a bowling allrounder. RCB did not need the middle order in that game, but the next time they needed a No. 5 batter, they sent Radha out again. This time the situation was a tricky one. 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).

A 23-run over, the most expensive opening over in a WPL match, greeted fans back at DY Patil Stadium after two closed-door games because of the local elections. But RCB lost four wickets for 22 runs in the next 4.3 overs, which included captain Smriti Mandhana‘s wicket. Radha was out at 39 for 3, which soon became 43 for 4, and Richa Ghosh joined her in the middle.

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Radha is no stranger to the role as such. She bats in the top order for Baroda in domestic cricket; she also played at No. 6 captaining India A on the tour of Australia last year. As an India regular as well as a Delhi Capitals (DC) allrounder in the previous WPL cycle, 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; her 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.

“She has played that role for Baroda and has done well,” Mandhana said after Friday’s game. “We always look at her as a finisher but I feel that spot was something… when we lost out on Pooja [Vastrakar] for the first four-five matches, Radha was the easiest swap [for the position] we had thought for [Vastrakar] pre-auction, because she has done that for the state team. The WPL is an Indian league, and if someone has batted at that [number] in state cricket, we should back them to do that. When you do that they come good.”

Richa Ghosh and Radha Yadav added 105 off 66 balls for the fifth wicket BCCI

Radha was sent in early to delay the entry points of Ghosh and de Klerk. But Ghosh joined her in the middle within six balls, and Radha scripted RCB’s resurgence after the powerplay. She weathered the storm by playing herself in. She was on 3 off 10 balls before she hit legspinner Georgia Wareham for a four and a six. Thereon, RCB scored at least one boundary each over till the 18th.

Radha and Ghosh added 105 together; it was only the second time in the WPL that two Indian batters had stitched a century stand. Their well-paced partnership helped RCB score 98 from the middle overs, the fourth-highest a team has scored in the WPL between overs 7-16. She got to her maiden WPL half-century in just 36 balls – despite facing 14 dot balls. It came off a crisply-pulled six off Sophie Devine that went wide of deep-backward square-leg running to her left. For the record, among Indians, only Harmanpreet Kaur (two) and Harleen Deol have scored fifties this season.

“I know I have the game and the temperament to bat in such a situation,” Radha said after being named the Player of the Match, “but when someone gives you confidence, it is a different matter.”

Whether RCB will tinker with their batting after another top-order collapse will be clear when they line-up to face DC inside 24 hours. But Radha’s returns from No. 5 could allow them the flexibility of going with more bowling options, which could mean an extended time on the bench for someone like Georgia Voll.