
Her absence will be a big mistake for RCB as she was one of the best wicket-keepers last season.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have 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 today (January 16) via an official press release.
Molineux, who was instrumental in RCB’s title-winning campaign last year, has been ruled out of the next edition due to a knee injury. The Australian was injured after completing India’s tour of Australia in December and will not recover in time for the WPL 2025 season.
The RCB statement read: “Australian all-rounder Sophie Molineux, who played a key role in RCB-W’s title triumph at WPL 2024, has been ruled out of the upcoming season due to a knee injury.”
“English all-rounder Charlie Dean, who has 46 WT20I wickets to her name with a meager economy rate of just 6.91 and is a useful lower-order batsman, has been named as Molineux’s replacement.”
RCB announce Charlie Dean as replacement for Sophie Molineux
Molineux will be a big loss for RCB as she was one of the best wicket-keepers last season (finished third). The 26-year-old claimed 12 wickets in 10 matches and formed a formidable trio with Asha Shobana and Shreyanka Patil. He even took three wickets in last year’s final to help RCB win their first title.
On the other hand, Charlie Dean, who is joining RCB for INR 30 Lakh, looks like the perfect replacement for Molineux.
The England international has taken 46 wickets in T20Is at an economy rate of 6.91 and can also contribute with the bat further down the order. Dean maintains a success rate of over 111 in the 36 games he has played so far.
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Updated RCB Team for WPL 2025:
Smriti Mandhana (Captain), Sabbineni Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Sophie Devine, Renuka Singh, Charlie Dean (Replacing Sophie Molineux), Ekta Bisht, Kate Cross, Kanika Ahuja, Danni Wyatt -Hodge (changed from UP Warriors), Prema Rawat, Joshitha VJ, Jagravi Pawar, Raghvi Bisht.
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