Her absence will be a big miss for RCB as she was one of the top wicket-takers last season
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has announced Charlie Dean as their replacement for the injured Sophie Molineux ahead of the upcoming Women’s Premier League (WPL 2025) season. The defending champions confirmed the news earlier today (January 16) via an official media release.
Molineux, who was an integral cog in RCB’s title-winning campaign last year, has been ruled out of the next edition due to a knee injury. The Australian had picked up the injury after the completion of India’s tour of Australia in December and won’t be recovering in time for the WPL 2025 season.
The RCB statement read, “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.”
“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.”
Molineux will be a big miss for RCB as she was one of the top wicket-takers last season (finished 3rd). The 26-year-old claimed 12 wickets in 10 matches and formed a formidable spin trio with Asha Shobana and Shreyanka Patil. She even took a three-wicket over in the final last year to help RCB win their maiden title.
On the other hand, Charlie Dean, who will join RCB for INR 30 Lakh, looks like the perfect replacement for Molineux.
The England international has picked up 46 wickets in T20Is at an economy rate of 6.91 and can also contribute with the bat lower down the order. Dean maintains a strike rate of over 111 in the 36 matches she has played so far.
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Updated RCB squad for WPL 2025:
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), Prema Rawat, Joshitha VJ, Jagravi Pawar, Raghvi Bisht.
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