3 reasons why RCB may not defend their title in WPL 2025

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are the defending champions of the Women's Premier League (WPL). They beat the Delhi Capitals in the final last season to clinch their maiden WPL trophy.

With the WPL 2025 season set to begin on Friday, February 14, all eyes will be on RCB to see if they can go on to defend their title this time around. The team consists of some superstars like skipper Smriti Mandhana herself, Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry, English opener Danni Wyatt, and some top Indian talents such as Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, and Renuka Singh among others.

RCB will take on Gujarat Giants in the 2025 season opener on February 14 in Vadodara. While they will be among the favorites to go out there and win the title again, it may not be as easy for them to do so, and here are three reasons why.

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3 reasons why RCB may not defend their title in WPL 2025

#3 Lack of a solid pace attack

India women's team fast bowler Renuka Singh is expected to lead RCB's pace attack this season as well. While Renuka emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series against West Indies in December 2024, she has failed to impress in the two seasons of the WPL so far.

She has picked up only three wickets from 16 WPL games to date. Her lack of performance in the tournament will be a major concern ahead of the start of a new season. Moreover, all-rounder Ellyse Perry recently had a hip injury, which could mean that she could bowl lesser or not be at her complete best with the ball.

While they do have options in Joshitha VJ, Kim Garth and Heather Graham, it will be interesting to see how they perform and who RCB go to.

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#2 Lack of form and game time of some key players

Another reason why RCB could fail to defend their title this season could be the lack of form and not enough game time of some of their key players. Ellyse Perry, who scored 347 runs from nine games last season, has not been in great form heading into the WPL 2025 season.

She has only managed to score 76 runs in her last three ODIs and 21 runs in her last three T20Is. She has gone wicket-less and has hardly bowled in these games due to injury. Danni Wyatt has also struggled, managing only 73 runs in her last three ODIs and 69 runs in her last three T20Is.

Further, players like Shreyanka Patil and Asha Sobhana have not had enough game time. Both Shreyanka and Asha last played international cricket in October 2024 in the Women's T20 World Cup. While Shreyanka is returning from injury, there are still no updates on whether Asha will play this WPL season.

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#1 Change in combination due to injury woes and player unavailability

The biggest factor that could come in the way of RCB defending their WPL title could be a change in the team combination due to key players missing out either due to injury or unavailability.

New Zealand's Sophie Devine will be missing this time as she has opted out. Left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux, who was the 'Player of the Match' in the final last season, is out injured, while Kate Cross also withdrew to focus on rehab due to an injury.

Charlie Dean, Heather Graham and Kim Garth have come in as replacements. However, with the likes of Devine and Molineux out, last year's winning combination will suffer forced changes. While Danni Wyatt has opened with Smriti in the past, it will also be interesting to see how a new opening pair for RCB in the WPL will pan out.