WPL 2024: Heather Knight Pulls Out of Upcoming Season, RCB Name Replacement

England captain Heather Knight has decided to pull out of the upcoming season of Women’s Premier League 2024. It’s a big blow for the Royal Challengers Bangalore as Knight is a crucial player in their set-up. She scored 135 runs last season at a strike rate of 140.62 and also claimed four wickets.

The franchise didn’t reveal the reason behind Knight’s decision to miss WPL 2024 but they named South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk as her replacement.

The South African all-rounder, who bowls medium-fast and bats right-handed, has featured in 30 ODIs and 46 T20Is.

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“England captain Heather Knight has pulled out of the upcoming season of the Women’s Premier League 2024. The Royal Challengers Bangalore have named Nadine de Klerk as her replacement,” the WPL said in a statement.

England cricketers who are involved in the WPL are in a dilemma, as staying back for the business end of the T20 League could lead to them missing out on their country’s five-match T20I series in New Zealand.

According to reports, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has told players involved in the WPL that they will not be considered for the first three T20Is in New Zealand if they stay in India till the end of the T20 league.

The ECB is expected to name the England squad next week.

RCB had a nightmare of a start to life in WPL as they lost their opening five matches. They made a mini comeback by winnings back-to-back matches but finished their campaign with another defeat. Overall, they won two and lost six matches to end fourth on the points table, failing to make it to the knockout stage.

They purchased as many as seven players, spending a total of Rs 2.1 crore at the auction held in December last year.

RCB Full Squad: Asha Shobana, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry, Nadine de Klerk, Indrani Roy, Kanika Ahuja, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Smriti Mandhana (C), Sophie Devine, Georgia Wareham, Kate Cross, Ekta Bisht, Shubha Satheesh, S Meghana, Simran Bahadur, Sophie Molineux