We're in a good place heading into the auction – Anya Shrubsole

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s newly-appointed assistant coach, Anya Shrubsole, sat down with Mayanti Langer on a special episode of Bold Diaries ahead of the upcoming WPL 2026 Mega Auction, outlining RCB’s preparation and reflections on joining the franchise.

She spoke about her equation with skipper Smriti Mandhana, the level of planning involved, how quickly auction plans can shift, and what it means to be part of the RCB setup.

Anya said, “It’s been amazing. Obviously I know Smriti pretty well, from playing with her quite a lot. She’s asked me a couple of times if I am going to come and do this but it hasn’t worked out for various reasons. So I am excited to be here, be a part of the family and be heading to my first auction.”

Underlining the auction planning, Anya stated, “I think just the amount of detail that you have to go into or we've gone into and just how quickly things change. We spent quite a lot of time on one thing thinking that's what the route you're going to go down and then 2 hours later you've completely abandoned that and you're on to something else.”

She further added, “And just some really good minds in the room who ask challenging questions. But obviously with that comes, like I say, lots of changes. You start the day here and you end the day over here and you come back the next day and you've changed your mind again. So, it takes time. It takes a lot of planning and thoughts, but feels like we're in a good place heading into the auction.”