WPL 2026: Smriti Mandhana’s RCB suffer fresh blow; India all-rounder ruled out for coming weeks

NAVI MUMBAI: India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru pace-bowling all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar has been ruled out for at least two weeks of the ongoing Women's Premier League due to a hamstring injury.

The 26-year-old, who last played a competitive game in the T20 World Cup in October 2024, was brought for Rs 85 lakh during the Women's Premier League auction in November last year, and the WPL was supposed to be her comeback.



"Pooja Vastrakar was not available for selection (against Mumbai Indians)," , the franchise's head coach Malolan Rangarajan said after the team's opening match here on Friday.

"Two weeks prior to her release from the CoE (Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru), she unfortunately tweaked her hamstring. The information that we have is that she will be there for two weeks more.

"Earlier, she was there (at the CoE) for her shoulder, now she has a hamstring issue. It's a week by week process. So let's see where she is at."

RCB, riding on an all-round display by South African stalwart Nadine de Klerk, defeated defending champions Mumbai Indians by three wickets in a last-ball thriller on Friday.

De Klerk returned with excellent bowling figures of 4/26 and then blasted 63 off 44 to chase down a target of 155.

In absence of Pooja, RCB handed the responsibility of bowling to new recruits -- England left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, Arundhati Reddy and de Klerk as they managed to keep the opponents to 154-6.

Chasing the total, RCB were in a spot of bother when they were reduced to 65 for 5 but de Klerk successfully anchored the chase.

"The value of all-rounders came to the fore. My blood pressure, everything is okay. I've gotten used to this. I've been with RCB for six years. Very good to be on the winning side," Rangarajan said.

Heaping praise on de Klerk, the coach said: "Nadine was very clear with her plan, how she was going to approach the next 11 overs. That's the first time I met her inside [at the strategic time out] was over (number) nine.

"She wanted to chase down upwards of eight (runs per over) in the last four and then there was a plan of how to approach the next two overs in blocks. Aru (Reddy) also did a very, very good job (with the bat, scoring 20 off 25 in a sixth-wicket partnership of 52 off 51)."

For Mumbai Indians, Hayley Matthews missed out as she is recovering from a shoulder injury, head coach Lisa Keightley said.

"Unfortunately, her shoulder isn't great. While training, she got a slight strain and she's really close (to play)," Keightley said.

"It was a bit too close for her to play tonight. We will see how she goes tomorrow, and if she's fit for tomorrow's game. But she is really close."

The defending champions Mumbai Indians will face Delhi Capitals on Saturday at the DY Patil Stadium, while RCB will face UP Warriorz Women on Monday.

Get the latest WPL 2026 updates including WPL teams, full WPL 2026 schedule, and live scores for Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, UP Warriorz, Gujarat Giants, and Delhi Capitals. Also check the latest WPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.