WPL 2024 Champions Suffer Huge Injury Blow!! MIW To Miss This Indian Pacer

Even before the start of the third edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in 2025, injuries have made their presence among the five franchises. The defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women (RCB), and the inaugural winners, Mumbai Indians Women (MIW), will miss their two vital players.

RCB’s opening batter, New Zealand’s Sophie Devine, had already decided to miss the WPL 2025 to prioritize her well-being. The veteran missed the second half of the Super Smash season with Wellington and decided to take a break immediately from the game.

RCBW to miss Asha Sobhana in WPL 2025

Bengaluru will have to deal a huge injury blow before the start of the WPL 2025 as their ace Indian leg-spinner, Asha Sobhana, won’t be available for the season. She has failed to recover in time for their title defense.

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Sobhana has featured in six WT20Is for the national side, taking nine wickets at an average of 16.33, a strike rate of 15.3, and an economy rate of 6.39, with a best bowling figure of 3/19 in an innings.

In the previous season of the WPL, the 33-year-old celebrated 17 scalps in 15 innings at an average of 19.23. Her best figure of 5/22 in an innings helped her get the national contract. Her last encounter with India came at the T20 World Cup last year in UAE.

Asha sustained the knee injury just after the toss in the last league game against Australia in Sharjah and had to be replaced with the opposition captain’s approval.

The wicket-keeper batter, Nuzhat Parween, has come into the side as a replacement. In November, she cracked a 50-run knock against India A in Raipur, after celebrating a 55-run knock against India C at the same venue.

RCB to miss Shreyanka Patil and Sophie Molineux

RCB will be without their foreign contingent. Sophie Molineux, the team’s joint second leading wicket-taker in the WPL 2024 alongside Asha, has pulled out of the season after her knee injury in the Women’s Ashes. Kate Cross, although uncapped for the franchise, has also withdrawn to focus on her recovery ahead of the busy international schedule.

Shreyanka Patil, the Emerging Player of the previous season and the holder of the Purple cap, is also doubtful after a prolonged rehab and recovery process from her shin injury. Last year, she picked up 19 wickets for the Smriti Mandhana-led side in just 15 innings, averaging 18.36 and having a strike rate below 13.

Patil has been at the National Cricket Academy since her return from the T20 World Cup 2024 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Both Ashes and Shreyanka missed India’s three-match ODI series in Australia and the home season against Ireland and West Indies.

Mumbai Indians replace Pooja Vastrakar with Parunika Sisodia

Mumbai Indians’ head coach, Charlotte Edwardes, lauded Pooja Vastrakar as a ‘big player’ for the franchise during the pre-season press conference of the WPL 2025. They have replaced him with Parunika Sisodia, the left-arm spinner, who is not a like-for-like replacement for the medium pacer.

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Her recent form is encouraging as he added five wickets across the semi-final and the final of the Under-19 World Cup, helping the blue brigade become back-to-back champions. She was a part of the Gujarat Giant squad in the first season and became the player of the match in the semifinal of the U-19 T20 World Cup.

The opening clash of the WPL 2025 will be between RCBW and GGTW on February 14 at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.