Pooja Vastrakar faces two-week WPL absence after hamstring setback

Pooja Vastrakar's eagerly anticipated return to competitive cricket has been pushed for a further two weeks as the India and RCB allrounder has suffered a hamstring issue and will not be in action in the ongoing Women's Premier League (WPL) for the upcoming two weeks.

RCB were forced to play their WPL 2026 opener on Friday (January 9) at the DY Patil Stadium in Vastrakar's absence. However, a calculated and composed knock (63* off 44 balls) by their overseas recruit Nadine de Klerk helped them pip the defending champions Mumbai Indians by three wickets in a last-ball cliffhanger.

RCB head coach Malolan Rangarajan informed that Vastrakar "tweaked her hamstring" before joining the side for the fourth season and would require two more weeks of rehab before a return to action.

"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 as reported by ESPNCricinfo. "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."

Notably, Vastrakar's last competitive game was for India against Australia at the T20 World Cup 2024 in October in Sharjah. She was undergoing rehab at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. RCB had splurged INR 85 lakhs at the auction in November to rope her in. 

Nadine de Klerk's all-round brilliance seals campaign opener for RCB

The WPL season four opener between Mumbai and Bengaluru turned out to be a one-woman show as Nadine de Klerk exhibited her proficiency with both bat and ball in hand.

She accounted for Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur, Nicola Carey, and Sajeevan Sajana, returning figures of 4/26 and validated Smriti Mandhana's decision to bowl first.

A batting order collapse (65/5) saw RCB pin their hopes on the South African, and she played a blinder to take them over the line on the final ball. The right-hander scored 63* off 44 balls with the help of seven fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 143.18.

A #TATAWPL classic in the season opener! 🔥

And we have just begun 😎

What a finish that from Nadine de Klerk! 🤯

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/IWU1URl1fr#KhelEmotionKa | #MIvRCB pic.twitter.com/FKyZhLwbto

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 9, 2026

Needing 18 off six balls, de Klerk failed to put the first two deliveries of the final over away but hammered 6, 4, 6, 4 on the remaining balls to seal a memorable win for the WPL 2024 champions.