Royal Challengers Bengaluru:<\/b> Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Malolan Rangarajan admitted the defending champions would have loved to sign Sophie Molineux at the 2027 Women\u2019s Premier League (WPL) auction, though he felt that acquiring her fellow Australian left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Jess Jonassen would make the side stronger.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
RCB pushed the bidding for Sophie, a member of their title-winning squad in 2024, to Rs 1.05 crore before UP Warriorz signed her for Rs 1.10 crore. The champions then waited until the accelerated round to sign Jess at her base price of Rs 40 lakh.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think we bid for five players, got four. But it was pretty simple and clear for us. The intention with which we approached this auction was to try to improve our team. We, I think, for lack of a better phrase, tried to throw the kitchen sink at Sophie Molineux. We would have loved to have her. Everybody knows how good a cricketer she is,\u201d Rangarajan said in a post-auction press conference.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He also said Jess, who offers similar skills with the ball and depth with the bat, was high on RCB\u2019s wish list. \u201cBut a similar left-arm spinner who also gives us depth with batting was JJ, who was very high on our ranking list also. It just so worked out that JJ came later in the auction. So it worked out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThat meant after the second set, all the way down to the 11th set, we just had to sit tight. Our priorities: we already have Prathyoosha as our backup keeper, and we knew we had to pick another Indian batter. Again, the batters that we were looking for went unsold.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cSo we knew we could always circle back to the players we wanted, tick off our initial priority of getting one of the overseas left-arm spinners. We\u2019re very glad JJ, who we\u2019ve landed up with, we\u2019re very happy with that pick, and I\u2019m sure she\u2019ll improve our squad.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
RCB also signed South Africa\u2019s batting all-rounder Chloe Tryon and India batter Tejal Hasabnis for Rs 30 lakh each, and opener Vrinda Dinesh for Rs 10 lakh. \u201cVery happy. Chloe Tryon is obviously a very experienced international player. She\u2019s now, I think, playing a lot of franchise leagues, also doing well. She just strengthens our squad currently with somebody who gives us depth with batting at maybe anywhere between four and seven.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAlso very handy with the left-arm spin. The key thing for us was trying to identify experienced players who\u2019ve already been in the WPL environment. But very, very happy. Now it seems to be a very good mix of experienced players with a couple of youngsters who have now gone on to play for the country. So very happy with Chloe in our squad,\u201d added Rangarajan.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
RCB also signed South Africa\u2019s batting all-rounder Chloe Tryon and India batter Tejal Hasabnis for Rs 30 lakh each, and opener Vrinda Dinesh for Rs 10 lakh. \u201cVery happy. Chloe Tryon is obviously a very experienced international player. She\u2019s now, I think, playing a lot of franchise leagues, also doing well. She just strengthens our squad currently with somebody who gives us depth with batting at maybe anywhere between four and seven.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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