Mumbai: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) announced on Thursday the signing of England off-spinner Charlie Dean as a replacement for injured Sophie Molineux for the upcoming Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025.
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Injury Sidelines Sophie Molineux
Sophie Molineux will miss the third edition of the WPL due to a knee injury sustained after India’s tour of Australia in December 2024. She will not recover in time for the season.
Molineux was a vital part of RCB-W’s 2024 campaign, contributing significantly with 12 wickets in 10 games at an impressive economy rate of 7.31. Her remarkable three-wicket over in the final against the Delhi Capitals played a pivotal role in securing RCB’s championship win.
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Charlie Dean Joins RCB
Charlie Dean, a 24-year-old bowling all-rounder, joins RCB for Rs 30 Lakh. Dean has an impressive international record, having played:
- 36 T20Is
- 3 Tests
- 39 ODIs
She has claimed 122 wickets across formats in her international career.
Strengthening RCB’s Title Defense
In addition to signing Dean, RCB bolstered their squad in the mini-auction last year with players like:
- Prema Rawat (Uttarakhand leg-spinner) for Rs 1.2 crore
- Joshitha VJ, Raghvi Bist, and Jagravi Pawar for Rs 10 lakh each
RCB Squad for WPL 2025
The complete squad includes:
- Smriti Mandhana (c)
- Sabbineni Meghana
- Richa Ghosh (wk)
- Ellyse Perry
- Georgia Wareham
- Shreyanka Patil
- Asha Sobhana
- Sophie Devine
- Renuka Singh
- Sophie Molineux
- Ekta Bisht
- Kate Cross
- Kanika Ahuja
- Danni Wyatt-Hodge
- Prema Rawat
- Joshitha VJ
- Raghvi Bist
- Jagravi Pawar
New Venues for WPL 2025
The BCCI has introduced two new venues for the 2025 WPL season: Baroda and Lucknow, alongside the existing venues in Mumbai and Bengaluru. The exact number of matches at each venue will be confirmed once the schedule is announced.