It has been a quiet start for Danni Wyatt-Hodge for a new team, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the ongoing edition of the WPL but she is slowly getting into her groove, smashing her maiden fifty in the tournament recently against the UP Warriorz, her former team for which she was benched for the whole season last year. Wyatt-Hodge was traded in by RCB and the English opening batter, revealed that she had been 'badgering' her former Southern Brave opening partner Smriti Mandhana to get her into RCB.
In an interaction on the RCB YouTube channel, Wyatt-Hodge mentioned that her agent told her that RCB were interested in getting her on the board and it finally took place a month later and was glad that it did after which she called up her wife and parents to tell them the news. "I've always been a fan of RCB more than the other teams because of the players that have been playing for them like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Dilshan, Virat," Wyatt-Hodge said. "There's been a high calibre of players who have played for RCB and they have been so entertaining to watch. I just remembered the crowd being electric even coming through the TV, it sounded amazing."
Obviously, as soon as she joined RCB, the decade-old infamous post of Wyatt-Hodge went viral once again since Indian batting superstar Virat Kohli also plays for the same franchise in the IPL and is the only player in 17 editions to have played for the same side.
"That was a joke, obviously. It blew out of proportion," the 33-year-old opening batter said. "I obviously didn't mean it. I was just like in awe of Virat's innings at the time. It was a very special knock," Wyatt-Hodge added referring to Kohli's unbeaten 72 off 44 in the T20 World Cup 2014 semi-final against South Africa that helped India get into the final.
"I checked my phone 50 minutes later and I'm all over the news in India saying that I wanted to marry Virat. It was years ago now, things like that happen. I used to love Twitter and loved a bit of banter.
"He is an amazing batter, he's been phenomenal for India since he started. His record speaks for itself, he's just so consistent. Whenever he's batting, everyone loves turning on the TV and watching him bat. Obviously, he's been loyal to RCB since he started. He's inspired so many kids, girls and boys to take up cricket," Wyatt-Hodge further added.
A few years ago in 2018, Wyatt-Hodge revealed she met Kohli once after that viral post and the Indian batter told her that she shouldn't do things like that on a platform like Twitter (now X).
With Sophie Devine unavailable, the signing of Wyatt-Hodge proved to be a blessing in disguise for the defending champions RCB, who got a quality, experienced opener to replace another one. But the injuries and pullouts kept piling on for Smriti Mandhana and Co and despite a good start, RCB have lost both their home games in a row and would be keen to get back to winning ways before ending the Bengaluru leg.