Vastrakar out of the WPL for two weeks with hamstring injury
Misfortune strikes RCB fast bowler Pooja Vastrakar, who was on the road to recovery from a shoulder injury but now needs more time
ESPNcricinfo staff
10-Jan-2026 • 18 hrs ago
Pooja Vastrakar has not played any competitive cricket for over a year • ICC/Getty Images
India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fast bowler Pooja Vastrakar will miss the first two weeks of the Women's Premier League after picking up a hamstring injury.
RCB have already played their first game of the 2026 season, on Friday night when they beat defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in a thrilling last-over finish. Their auction strategy of going all in on allrounders paid off - even though one of them - Vastrakar, who they rate very highly - wasn't available.
"I think two days prior to her release from the [BCCI's Centre of Excellence], she unfortunately tweaked her hamstring," Malolan Rangarajan, RCB head coach, said at the post-match press conference. "The information we have at the moment is that she's going to [need] two weeks more. It's a hamstring issue. She was there for her shoulder and now it's a hamstring issue. So it's a week-by-week process. So let's see where she's at."
Back in November, when RCB brought in Vastrakar for INR 85 lakh, Rangarajan said she "changes a lot of things for RCB as far as combinations are concerned". Vastrakar was injured at the time of the auction as well. The WPL was expected to mark her comeback, having played her last competitive game in the T20 World Cup in October 2024.
Without her, RCB opened the bowling with another new recruit - England left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who finished with 2-0-23-0; their first-change was another RCB debutant - Arundhati Reddy (4-0-37-0); and their match-winner was a returnee from the 2024 title-winning season. Nadine de Klerk became only the second player in the WPL to hit a fifty and pick up a four-for in the same game.
"The value of allrounders came to the fore," Rangarajan said after RCB recovered from 65 for 5 to chase down 152. "My blood pressure, everything is okay. I've gotten used to this. I've been with RCB for six years. Very good to be on the winning side.
"Nadine was very clear with her plan, how she was going to approach the next 11 overs. That's the first time I met her inside [at the strategic time out] was over [number] nine. She wanted to chase down upwards of eight [runs per over] in the last four and then there was a plan of how to approach the next two overs in blocks. Aru [Reddy] also did a very, very good job [with the bat, scoring 20 off 25 in a sixth-wicket partnership of 52 off 51]."
RCB play their next game on Monday against UP Warriorz at the same DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.