Kochi, Oct 28 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Malolan Rangarajan admitted the defending champions would have loved to sign Sophie Molineux at the 2027 Women’s 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.
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.
“I 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,” Rangarajan said in a post-auction press conference.
He also said Jess, who offers similar skills with the ball and depth with the bat, was high on RCB’s wish list. “But 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.
“That 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.
“So 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’re very glad JJ, who we’ve landed up with, we’re very happy with that pick, and I’m sure she’ll improve our squad.”
RCB also signed South Africa’s batting all-rounder Chloe Tryon and India batter Tejal Hasabnis for Rs 30 lakh each, and opener Vrinda Dinesh for Rs 10 lakh. “Very happy. Chloe Tryon is obviously a very experienced international player. She’s 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.
“Also very handy with the left-arm spin. The key thing for us was trying to identify experienced players who’ve 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,” added Rangarajan.
He also admitted that signing Bengaluru-born Vrinda had come as a pleasant surprise. “I’ll be very honest. I didn’t expect to end up with Vrinda. We’re very, very happy that we’ve been able to bring a Karnataka-born player into the squad. She’s been doing exceptionally well for India A. So as soon as we saw an opportunity to bring her into the team, we ensured that was taken across the line.”
–IANS
nr/bsk/