Former Women’s Premier League (WPL) champions RCB Women have appointed the England World Cup winner as the new bowling coach for the upcoming season.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Women won the Women’s Premier League in the second season of the WPL. Smriti Mandhana led them to victory, but they could not defend their title in the next season, as it went back to Mumbai Indians Women.
Mumbai Indians Women won the first and third seasons of the WPL. They were led by Harmanpreet Kaur, the World Cup-winning captain for India. Harmanpreet won the world title in 2025 for the first time in the history of ICC Women’s World Cup.
RCB appoints former England World Cup winner as new coach
Royal Challengers Bangalore have appointed the former World Cup-winning England player as their new bowling coach for the upcoming season. England’s 2017 World Cup winning team’s fast bowler Anya Shrubsole will be seen in the RCB camp.
Recently appointed RCB head coach Malolan Rangarajan said, “Anya brings with her a wealth of experience and leadership. She will oversee our bowling unit and serve as an integral member of our think tank. I have no doubt that she will integrate seamlessly with the group and make a significant impact both on and off the field.”
She will work closely with the new and old members of the RCB management to choose an ideal squad ahead of the next season as they pick new players from the mega-auction to be held in November this year.
Official announcement
A proven champion, now coming forward to guide our girls.
Join us in welcoming Anya Shrubsole – former England fast bowler, 2017 Women’s World Cup winner and player of the match in the final – as RCB’s assistant coach in the Tata WPL.
Anya is rich… pic.twitter.com/jIbtp42tuR
– Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) 9 November 2025
The names of Royal Challengers Bangalore women players have been retained for WPL 2026
Royal Challengers Bangalore have retained some of their best Indian-origin players, while retaining only one of their foreign stars. He has invested heavily in Indian wicketkeeper batsman Richa Ghosh.
New head coach Malolan Rangarajan said of retaining Ghosh, “Her association with risk and how she handles pressure situations is exactly what we want in our batting line-up.” He also confirmed that he sees her as a player with great leadership potential.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Women have retained a total of four players as they have retained their captain Smriti Mandhana (3.5 crore), Richa Ghosh (2.5 crore), Ellyse Perry (2 crore) and last season’s star Shreyanka Patil (60 lakh). The money already spent is Rs 8.85 crore, and they are left with a purse of Rs 6.15 crore in their hand with the RTM option.
Big names released ahead of WPL 2026 mega-auction
The biggest names to be released by franchises ahead of the upcoming mega-auction in the Women’s Premier League:
Meg Lanning – Batter – DC – INR 1.10 Crore
Deepti Sharma – Allrounder – UPW – Rs 2.60 crore
Harleen Deol – Batter – GG – Rs 40 lakh
Renuka Singh – Fast Bowler – RCB – Rs 1.50 crore
Sophie Ecclestone – Allrounder – UPW – Rs 1.80 crore
Phoebe Lichfield – Batter – GG – INR 1.00 Crore
Laura Wolvaardt – Batter – GG – INR 30 Lakh
Amelia Kerr – Allrounder – MI – INR 1.00 Crore
Also read: Role of Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir in ending Mohammed Shami’s Indian career finally revealed
