Pooja Vastrakar suffers further injury misfortune, out for 2 more weeks with a latest case of hamstring injury.
Due to a hamstring injury, Pooja Vastrakar, a fast bowler for India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), will miss the first two weeks of the Women’s Premier League.
RCB defeated the reigning champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in an exciting last-over finish on Friday night, marking their first game of the 2026 season. Even though Vastrakar, one of their highly regarded all-rounders, wasn’t available, their auction approach of going all out on them paid off.
India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fast bowler Pooja Vastrakar will miss the first two weeks of the Women’s Premier League after picking up a hamstring injury.
RCB have already played their first game of the 2026 season, on Friday night when they beat defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in a thrilling last-over finish. Their auction strategy of going all in on allrounders paid off – even though one of them – Vastrakar, who they rate very highly – wasn’t available.
Rangarajan stated that Vastrakar “changes a lot of things for RCB as far as combinations are concerned” after the team signed her for INR 85 crore. At the time of the auction, Vastrakar was also hurt. After playing her final competitive match in the T20 World Cup in October 2024, the WPL was anticipated to be her return.
In her absence, RCB used another new recruit to start the bowling, England left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who finished with 2-0-23-0; Arundhati Reddy, another RCB debutant, was their first change (4-0-37-0); and a returnee from the 2024 title-winning season was their match-winner.