
Picture Credit: X
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Women on Thursday, January 16 were hit with a major blow as Sophie Molineux was confirmed to miss the upcoming edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). The defending champions of WPL, took to social media to announce that Molineux will miss the 2025 edition of the tournament after she sustained a knee injury.
It is to be noted that Molineux played an integral role in RCB’s title triumph in 2024, but was forced to miss the upcoming edition after she missed a place in Australia’s Women’s Ashes squad. Moreover, the spin bowling all-rounder sustained the injury during the home series against India Women in 2024.
RCB Women announce Charlie Dean as Sophie Molineux’s replacement
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), RCB confirmed the decision. "Australian all-rounder Sophie Molineux, who played a key role in RCB-Ws title triumph in WPL 2024, has been ruled out of the upcoming season due to a knee injury," the statement from RCB read. The franchise further added that England all-rounder Charlotte Ellen Dean will replace her in the side.
"England all-rounder Charlie Dean, who has 46 WT20I wickets to her name at a meagre economy rate of just 6.91 and is a handy lower-order batter, has been named Molineuxs replacement," the statement from RCB further added. The England star boasts of a strike rate of over 111 in 36 matches she has played so far.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women squad for WPL 2025
Retained: Smriti Mandhana (Captain), Sabbineni Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patiil, Asha Sobhana, Sophie Devine, Renuka Singh, Charlie Dean (Replacement for Sophie Molineux), Ekta Bisht, Kate Cross, Kanika Ahuja, Danni Wyatt-Hodge (Traded from UP Warriorz)
Bought in auction: Prema Rawat, Joshitha VJ, Jagravi Pawar, Raghvi Bisht