Anya Shrubsole joins RCB as bowling coach in the WPL

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have appointed former England fast bowler Anya Shrubsole as their new bowling coach as part of a reshuffle of their support ahead of WPL 2026.

Shrubsole will work alongside Malolan Rangarajan, the former Tamil Nadu spinner, who will step in as head coach for the upcoming season. The change was necessary because Luke Williams, who came onboard as head coach ahead of the 2024 season, is set to miss WPL 2026 due to his commitments with Adelaide Strikers in the BBL.

A scheduling conflict has arisen because the WPL has been advanced by a month. The tournament is set to begin on January 8 and will end in early February. India is then slated to co-host the men's T20 World Cup with Sri Lanka in the February-March window, before IPL 2026.

A World Cup winner in 2017, Shrubsole retired from international cricket in 2022 with over 200 wickets. In the season that followed, she served as player-and-assistant coach under Charlotte Edwards at Southern Vipers. Her stint with RCB will be her first in the WPL. Sunetra Paranjape was previously bowling coach of RCB until 2025.

Rangarajan has been part of RCB's WPL setup since the first season. After working under Ben Sawyer and Mike Hesson in 2023, Rangarajan - who also serves as lead scout for the men's team - was assistant to Williams during their title-winning season in 2024 and the most recent one, in which they didn't make the final.

The other members of the RCB support staff include R Muralidhar, who will continue as batting coach, while Navnita Gautam is likely to continue in her role as head physio.

Rangarajan's first task will be to finalise the players RCB are retaining ahead of the November 5 deadline, with the WPL mega auction likely to be held on November 26 in New Delhi. The franchise is understood to be unanimous in their choice of Smriti Mandhana as the top retention and captain for the next WPL cycle. They are also in talks with Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh, Sophie Molineux and Shreyanka Patil as possible retentions.

RCB had two fourth-place finishes either side of a title-winning run under Mandhana in 2024 - their first ever trophy, before the men's team followed suit in 2025 and won their maiden IPL title.