Patil delivers her best ball, over and over again

While the DRS protocols played out, Shreyanka Patil stood next to the pitch with her cap in hand. She had coaxed her captain into taking a review for an lbw against Beth Mooney. Apart from Smriti Mandhana, though, the other fielders went to their positions to get ready for the start of a new over. Until ball-tracking showed three reds. Patil jumped with joy and hugged Mandhana, while the other Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) players rushed to celebrate the first of her five wickets that spun out Gujarat Giants (GG) in WPL 2026.

Patil last played for India at the 2024 T20 World Cup before being sidelined for 14 months by a series of injuries to her shin, wrist and thumb. She missed the last WPL and finally returned to top-flight cricket at the WCPL 2025 before playing for Karnataka.

"I've gone through a rollercoaster of a ride. I have come out of it in a very strong way, credit goes to my support system," Patil said after the match. "The fact that I was out of cricket for 14 months was a big blow for me because I am someone who can't sit quietly. I want to be on the cricket field, doing what I love doing. I'm very happy with the preparation I got in the last month as well with Arjun [Dev, her coach] sir back in Bangalore."

On Friday, Patil was used in one-over bursts on the night, and picked up her maiden five-wicket haul in WPL. She became the first bowler to take three four-plus wicket hauls in the WPL - her 5 for 16 derailing GG's chase of 183.

"I think I am a wicket-taking bowler because of the drift I get, the turn I get and the bounce I get," Patil said. "I'm giving a lot of credit to myself. I don't know why. I've worked towards it.

"I just didn't want it to be a containing bowler. I wanted to be a wicket-taking bowler and be that impactful bowler for the team in any given situation because I've prepared so well. I know that I'm looking to get wickets. Going back to practice, the scenarios I've played, the match-based scenarios, bowling against boys, getting hit, learning from them [has helped]."

After trapping Mooney lbw on review in the fifth over, she returned in the ninth to pin Kanika Ahuja in front of the stumps. She then bowled the 16th over in which she had Kashvee Gautam hole out to deep midwicket to end her 56-run partnership with Bharti Fulmali. Patil then got Tanuja Kanwar and Renuka Singh in the space of four balls to end the match.

"Anya [Shrubsole, bowling coach] and Malo [Malolan Rangarajan, head coach] sir kept saying that just keep things simple because your stock ball is the best ball on this wicket," Patil said. "If there is some turn or a little slower, this is your kind of a wicket. So I kept things simple, got those arm balls going and just bowled a lot of off-spinners today. Obviously, bowling to left-handers is a big advantage being an off-spinner and Smriti kept saying that you have to get all the lefties out in the tournament."

Patil's haul on Friday put her on par with Nandani Sharma and Sophie Devine's eight for the most wickets in WPL 2026. Shrubsole lauded her for her meticulous planning during training for batters she would be coming up against in every game.

"Shreyanka is an exceptional bowler," Shrubsole said. "She bowls at a good pace. She gets the ball to spin. She challenges batters with her best ball. Probably what myself and Smriti as well have been trying to do is actually encourage her to bowl her best ball more often. She trains really hard, she plans really hard for the batters that she's coming up against.

"When we talk about plans and fields and what she wants to do, she's always super clear on all of that. Coming from the last game, I know she was disappointed - I didn't think she needed to be, but I know she was disappointed - today, I'm really pleased for her."

Patil returned figures of 2 for 50 in her previous outing, against UP Warriorz. She began with a ten-run over, in which a catch to dismiss Meg Lanning was overturned. In her next over, she dismissed Lanning and Phoebe Litchfield, despite being hit for a four and a six. Then in her last two overs, she gave away 30 runs, with Deandra Dotting hitting her for two fours and a six in an over.

"I actually think in the last game, especially in her first two overs, she bowled exceptionally well," Shrubsole said. "There was a four that was off the outside half of the bat. Litchfield played a brilliant reverse sweep for six, but [Patil] got Lanning out, she got Litchfield out, and bowled brilliantly.

"I'll say this because I said it to her. It felt like she went away from that plan to Dottin. She went straightaway to a wide [line] plan where maybe she didn't need to. So it's just been around encouraging her to bowl her best ball because her best ball is exceptional, and we saw that out there today. She bowled her best ball over and over again, challenged right-handers and left-handers, and deserved her five-for today. I thought she was outstanding."