RCB Predicted Playing 11 vs UPW for Match 9 of WPL 2025

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will face off against the UP Warriorz (UPW) in Match 9 of the 2025 Women's Premier League (WPL) on Monday, February 24. The encounter will take place at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

RCB kicked off their campaign with two straight wins but went down in their last game to the Mumbai Indians (MI). The defending champions will be keen on giving their home crowd something to cheer about and will likely come out all guns blazing against the Warriorz, who are on the back of an impressive win over the Delhi Capitals (DC).

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Smriti Mandhana (c), Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Sabbhineni Meghana, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh (wk), Georgia Wareham, Kanika Ahuja, Kim Garth, Prema Rawat, Renuka Thakur Singh, Ekta Bisht, Heather Graham, Charlie Dean, Sneh Rana, Jagravi Pawar, Nuzhat Parween, Joshitha VJ.

On that note, here is RCB's predicted playing XI for Match 9 of WPL 2025.

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Openers: Smriti Mandhana (c) and Danni Wyatt-Hodge

Australia v India - Women's ODI Series: Game 3 - Source: Getty

Smriti Mandhana and Danni Wyatt-Hodge have had a hot-cold start to the WPL 2025 season. While Mandhana has seemed to be in excellent nick but hasn't converted two of her three innings into big scores, Wyatt-Hodge played a useful cameo against DC but hasn't impressed otherwise. The duo will want to make the most of the Chinnaswamy's batting-friendly conditions on Monday.

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Middle Order: Raghvi Bist, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham

Australia Women's Ashes Training Session - Source: Getty

Bengaluru are unlikely to make any changes to the middle order even though Raghvi Bist hasn't quite made an impression so far. The young batter is clearly an exciting talent, and keeping faith in her could serve the team well.

Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh seem to be in excellent nick right now, and Kanika Ahuja will search for some consistency to accompany her obvious ability. Georgia Wareham has hit her straps with the ball, with six wickets in her last two matches, and will hope that her batting follows suit soon.

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Lower Order: Sneh Rana, Kim Garth, Ekta Bisht, Renuka Singh Thakur

India v Sri Lanka - ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 - Source: Getty

Joshitha VJ's presence gives RCB an extra pace option in fairly friendly conditions, but the young fast bowler has been used sparingly by Mandhana. And when she has bowled, she hasn't appeared to be overly threatening.

Bengaluru might be tempted to replace her with Sneh Rana, who would not only give them an off-spin option against the likes of Deepti Sharma and Tahlia McGrath but also lengthen the batting unit. While having just two pacers isn't ideal, with Perry not being fit to bowl, it might increase the hosts' chances of winning.

Speaking of two pacers, Renuka Singh Thakur and Kim Garth will don that role again. Ekta Bisht, meanwhile, will support Wareham in the spin department.