RCB Women Playing 11 vs UP Warriorz- WPL 2024, Match 2

RCB Women play against UP Warriorz in their opening fixture of WPL 2024 in Bengaluru on February 24. The match starts at 7.30 pm IST with the Royal Challengers Bangalore side looking to change their fortunes in the second season of the Women’s Premier League.

RCB Women finished fourth in the inaugural WPL season with the side losing six games and winning just two. The side is led by Smriti Mandhana who is the current vice-captain of the Indian women’s national cricket team.

She was the most expensive player last season in the WPL but did not have a tournament to remember. Smriti scored just 149 runs in 8 matches and her captaincy came under the radar as well. This time around, it’s the beginning of a new season and she will look to capitalize on her good form.

The franchise also bought some experienced overseas players who will add to the already strengthened side. Looking to revamp their side they released as many as seven players namely, Dané Van Niekerk, Erin Burns, Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt, Poonam Khemnar, Preeti Bose, and Sahana Pawar.

Meanwhile, England women’s team captain Heather Knight has opted out of the tournament this year to focus on England’s tour of New Zealand. RCB named Nadine de Klerk as her replacement. In this article, we predict the playing XI of RCB women against UP Warriorz.

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RCB Women Playing 11 vs UP Warriorz- WPL 2024, Match 2

Smriti Mandhana (C)

Mandhana will open the batting for RCB women. She had a difficult season with the bat last year and will look to start on a positive note. She scored 149 runs in the last WPL edition at an average of less than 20.

Sophie Devine

The Kiwi batter opened with Mandhana in the last WPL edition. She should open the batting this season as well. She scored 266 runs in 8 matches in the last season ending as the top run-getter for the side. She will look to dominate with the bat this season as well.

Disha Kasat

Kasat will bat at three. She played six games last year but could not score too many runs as she was asked to bat way lower down the order. She is a top-order batter and should bat at three.

Ellyse Perry

Perry will bat at four and will be a key figure for the team’s fortunes this season. She scored 253 runs and picked up 8 wickets and was by far the best player from the team. She will have to perform consistently for RCB to win the season.

Georgia Wareham

RCB roped in Wareham for 40 lakhs in the WPL 024 edition. She played for the Gujarat Giants last season scoring 30 runs and picking up a wicket. The franchise has banked on her international experience which she needs to showcase in this edition of the tournament.

Richa Ghosh (WK)

Ghosh will be the specialist keeper-batter for RCB Women. She played a few important knocks last season. Her performances were notable which helped her to become an integral part of the white-ball side. She is likely to play all the games.

Shreyanka Patil

The spinner was one of the stand out players for RCB Women last season. She scored 62 runs with the bat and picked up seven wickets with the ball for her franchise. She should be one of the two spinners in the side.

Ekta Bisht / Asha Shobana

One of Asha or Ekta should play as the Spin-bowling all-rounder. Asha picked up five wickets in six games last season while RCB bagged Ekta Bisht for 60 lakhs in the auction. Bisht has a lot of experience picking 98 ODI wickets and 53 T20I wickets for India.

Kanika Ahuja

The eight-arm off-spinner can be the third-spin option for RCB. She took two wickets last season and scored 98 runs with the bat. She was amongst the 11 players retained by the franchise.

Renuka Singh

Renuka will lead the pace attack for RCB. She took just one wicket with the ball last season. However, her exploits for India make her one of the bowlers to watch out for this season. She took 40 wickets across 29 matches for India in 2022 across white-ball formats.

Kate Cross

Cross concludes the likely playing XI for RCB. She was roped in by the management for 30 lakhs. She has 25 Test, 79 ODI, and 11 T20I wickets to her name, She adds a lot of experience to the bowling attack.

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