The Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 has kicked off with excitement! Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Women captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and eagerly chose to chase in the tournament opener at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. Mandhana also announced that 6 players are making their debuts for the franchise.
On the opposing side, Mumbai Indians (MI) Women captain Harmanpreet Kaur revealed that West Indian all-rounder Hayley Matthews isn’t available for selection due to illness. Australian all-rounder Nicola Carey is set to make her MI and WPL debut.
All set for the opening match of the WPL 2026 : JioHotstar#WPL2026 #MIvsRCB #SmritiMandhana #HarmanpreetKaur #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/UHcZqYii8k
— InsideSport (@InsideSportIND) January 9, 2026“The girls have gelled really well. It’s a young group; the overseas players have settled in nicely, and it’s been a fun environment. Everyone’s worked extremely hard, and we’re really excited to get started. We’re going in with six Indian players. Our four overseas players are Grace Harris, Nadine de Klerk, Welch, and Lauren Smith,” Mandhana told Anjum Chopra after winning the toss.
“We were also looking to bowl first, considering the dew later on. But it’s the first game of the season, so we’ll see how things go. It’s been really good. We’ve been practising for the last 10 days, and everyone looks in good touch. We’ve got a well-balanced side, pretty similar to what we’ve had over the last three seasons, so we’re confident heading into the game,” Harmanpreet said.
WPL 2026 opener: Playing XIs
RCB Women: Smriti Mandhana (c), Grace Harris, Dayalan Hemalatha, Richa Ghosh (wk), Radha Yadav, Nadine de Klerk, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Prema Rawat, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell
MI Women: Nat Sciver-Brunt, G Kamalini (wk), Amelia Kerr, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Amanjot Kaur, Nicola Carey, Poonam Khemnar, Shabnim Ismail, Sanskriti Gupta, Sajeevan Sajana, Saika Ishaque
WPL 2026 opener: No Hayley Matthews for MI, 6 debutants for RCB Inside Sport India.
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