UP Warriorz and RCB Announce Replacements for Alyssa Healy, Sophie Devine, and Kate Cross Ahead of WPL 2025

Women’s Premier League (WPL) franchises UP Warriorz (UPW) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have announced replacements for their injured and unavailable players ahead of the WPL 2025 season.

The defending champions, Royal Challengers Bangalore, will open the WPL 2025 against the Gujarat Giants on February 14 at the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium.

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On the other side, the UP Warriorz will begin their season against the Gujarat Giants on February 16 at the same stadium in Vadodara that will host the first six matches of the competition.

The WPL 2025 action will then transfer to Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium for the next eight matches, with Lucknow hosting four games at the Ekana Stadium, including three games for the local franchise UP Warriorz in the tournament.

WPL 2025 is to be played across four venues

The last stage of the competition will be held in Mumbai at the CCI Stadium, which will host the last four matches, including the Eliminator on March 13 and the last on March 15.

The 2025 Women's Premier League season will follow the same structure as the previous year, with the five teams—RCB, UPW, Mumbai Indians (MI), Gujarat Giants (GG), and Delhi Capitals (DC)—playing single matches against each other during the league round.

The top two teams in the points standings will advance directly to the WPL 2025 final, while the teams in second and third place will battle in the Eliminator for a berth in the summit showdown. There are no doubleheaders this season, with one match planned per day and all matches beginning at 7:30.

Chinelle Henry joins UPW; Heather Graham and Kim Garth join RCB for WPL 2025

The Women's Premier League (WPL) announced on Monday (February 3) that the UP Warriorz had hired West Indies all-rounder Chinelle Henry to replace Alyssa Healy in the WPL 2025.

Healy, the Australia Women's captain, has been ruled out for the season due to injury. Chinelle Henry, who has played 62 T20Is, joined the UP Warriorz for INR 30 lakh.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has signed Heather Graham and Kim Garth to replace Sophie Devine and Kate Cross for the upcoming WPL 2025.

Sophie Devine of New Zealand and Kate Cross of England have withdrawn from the upcoming Women's Premier League season due to personal reasons. Heather Graham, an Australian all-rounder, made her T20I debut in 2022 and has since played five games, taking eight wickets.

Graham played only one ODI for Australia Women in 2019. Kim Garth, on the other hand, has a significant international career, having represented Australia in 59 T20Is, 56 ODIs, and four Tests, totaling over 1400 international runs and 112 wickets.

So far in T20Is, the Australian all-rounder has 764 runs and 49 wickets. Garth will be playing his second innings in the WPL, having previously played for the Gujarat Giants. Heather Graham and Kim Garth have joined Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for INR 30 lakh each.

WPL officially confirms the signings

The WPL said in a media release on Monday, “UPW picked Chinelle Henry as an injury replacement for Alyssa Healy; RCB picked Heather Graham and Kim Garth in place of Sophie Devine and Kate Cross.”

🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🚨

UPW pick Chinelle Henry as injury replacement for Alyssa Healy; RCB pick Heather Graham and Kim Garth in place of Sophie Devine and Kate Cross.

All The Details 🔽 #TATAWPL | @UPWarriorz | @RCBTweetshttps://t.co/kNDNphU81s

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 3, 2025

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