"You can lose the WPL in the auction, but you can't win it."
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Malolan Rangarajan had a philosophical take on the WPL auction dynamics, where there is a constant alteration of plans. A case in point was when Australia left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen pulled out the night before the WPL 2026 mega auction, leading to a late change of plans for several teams, including RCB.
And after an evening of high-voltage bidding and trying to get the best set of players in the squad, Rangarajan is confident that RCB have achieved what they set out to do ahead of the auction: "a well-balanced squad, giving Smriti [Mandhana] options on the field of play."
"We had done a lot of work before the auction about how we would go about in the field of play, which players we have to target, what style of play we should target with RCB," Rangarajan told ESPNcricinfo.
"We took so much time in prepping for the auction; which are the players we like, what is our style. More or less what we wanted and, if I am being very honest, the one or two players who we thought we might not get, we got them as well."
RCB, the 2024 WPL champions, had one of the best auctions among the five teams, assembling a squad with several multi-skilled players. Of the players they picked, Nadine de Klerk, Pooja Vastrakar and Arundhati Reddy are three solid pace-bowling allrounders, whike in Radha Yadav, Grace Harris and Prema Rawat, they have decent spin-bowling allrounders.
"We had already picked our XI maybe by the second accelerated [round]," Rangarajan said. "And we had even gone to playing XII. After a point, we had so much money that it gave us an opportunity to pick a team where we could change our bowling combination to play a few other overseas [players].
"You know, that's what all-rounders do. So, that was a very clear plan for us: to pick the best bowling unit available."
Saba Karim looks at the presence of multiple allrounders as a big positive
An interesting selection from RCB was in the form of Vastrakar, who went for INR 85 lakh. The 26-year-old hasn't played any competitive cricket since October 2024 due to injury, and is currently rehabbing at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. While there have been conflicting reports about her availability, Rangarajan said that she should be ready next month.
"Look, if Pooja is fit, what she does on the field, we shouldn't even waste time talking about that. She's a three-skill player," Rangarajan said. "The BCCI has communicated to us that Pooja will be ready next month. That's the first thing. The second thing is, if we are buying her, we must have done some work behind the scenes. Like, what is she bowling? How fit will she be? When will she be fit?
"She is in the very good hands of the CoE. She is already going through her rehab process and is very close to bowling at 100%. As soon as she comes out of the CoE, she will be handed over to RCB and we will get her ready for the WPL. A fit Pooja Vastrakar changes a lot of things for RCB as far as combinations are concerned."
While RCB have plenty of all-round options, there is a concern about a reliable frontline Indian batter missing in the squad apart from Mandhana. There is Gautami Naik, but she hasn't played in the WPL before, while Dayalan Hemalatha has had mixed results in the tournament. Rangarajan, however, isn't concerned.
"It's all a matter of perception," he said. "I don't necessarily think that it's a weakness for us. If we had a frontline batter, then we're going to be sitting here and saying, 'are we concerned that we don't have a couple of all-rounders?' So, you could see it both ways. We may not have enough front-line Indian batting options. But I think we have good enough all-rounders to fill in those spots."
Among the Indian batting options, Naik had a terrific Maharashtra Premier League, where she finished with 173 runs in six innings, while opening the batting with Mandhana for Ratnagiri Jets. She is also a handy offspinner and, according to Rangarajan, a gun fielder.
"Gautami, I think she was called for trials only by us," he said. "As far as her skill is concerned, she's a tall, lanky individual with long levers. She's come for a couple of our trials and we've seen her ability to hit the ball cleanly, has power. And again, importantly, one of the key things we were looking for in the auction was trying to recruit good fielders. So, she was one of the players who ticked that box and also can bowl an over or two.
"I think she's a very exciting talent. She can open the innings or bat in the middle order."
Another player that has impressed Rangarajan is legspinner Rawat, for whom RCB exercised the RTM and picked up for INR 20 lakh. Rawat had fetched INR 1.20 crore in the 2025 auction, and while she did not have the best of seasons, managing just one wicket in three outings, she has since played for India A with decent returns.
"Prema is someone we identified last year and we were very, very sure of the talent," Rangarajan said. "She is trending in the right direction. A lot of talent there but more importantly, for someone like Prema, who had come for trials prior to us picking her last year, one thing was very evident was her character.
"She is a character who isn't too flustered or phased by the situation or the gravitas of the WPL or the RCB dressing room. We really like that. She is supremely talented, can bowl legspin with good revs at a very good speed. I'd say that along with Arundhati Reddy and Radha, she is among the best fielders in the country.
"I think it is a matter of time before she becomes a capped cricketer. If I had to take a punt, I would say that she could well play this Sri Lanka series [next month] as well. I won't be surprised."
WPL 2026 will be played in two venues - DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai and Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara. While Rangarajan said that the current RCB squad has been picked keeping in mind the conditions in these two venues, they have also looked at building a squad for the future.
"We are playing at the DY Patil Stadium, where there is some help for the pacers, so we need a pace bowler. If the wicket starts to turn, then we need spinners for that," he said. "Plus, you also have to keep an eye out on what's coming post-season also. You just can't pick a team for one season alone.
"We are playing WPL in January '26 and the next WPL in January '27. So, in a way, we have two WPLs in one year. We are going to play in D.Y. [Patil] and Vadodara, but we can't just think about that and take a team. Who knows, next year, we play in three to four grounds. So, for all the conditions, we had to build a team.
"And whatever our picks are, it's not like they are very old. They are all young and very exciting players. And also, experienced. While they are young, there are three to four people who have won the World Cup. So, there is a lot of experience within that squad."