Smriti Mandhana’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru picked twelve players at the WPL Auction 2026. Their signings included England fast bowler Lauren Bell (Rs 90 lakh), Australian all-rounder Grace Harris (Rs 75 lakh), South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk (Rs 65 lakh), and Australian top-order batter Georgia Voll (Rs 60 lakh). They also brought in Indian players Pooja Vastrakar (Rs 85 lakh), Arundhati Reddy (Rs 75 lakh) and Radha Yadav (Rs 65 lakh).
RCB further strengthened their squad by signing England left-arm spinner Linsey Smith for her base price of Rs 30 lakh, along with Indian top-order batter Dayalan Hemalatha for Rs 30 lakh. Prema Rawat, who recently played for India A, returned to the team after RCB used their Right-to-Match card to get her for Rs 20 lakh. They also added Indian all-rounders Gautami Naik and Prathyoosha Kumar, both bought for Rs 10 lakh each.
Reflecting on the auction, Head Coach Malolan Rangarajan said: “We’ve been able to cover most of what we set out to achieve. A key focus for us this year was strengthening our bowling group. With the retained squad already in place, the idea was to bring in players who complement them and add value to the overall balance.”
Speaking on the squad dynamics, he further added: “Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith give us strong options with the ball both in the powerplay and at the death, and bringing Radha back adds energy, fielding quality and variation with the ball. Prema gives us a young leg-spin option we’re excited about, and the additions of Nadine and Georgia give us flexibility with the bat. With Smriti, Richa and Perry already in place, we were looking for players who could complement that core, and we feel we’ve done that. At this stage, we’ve built a strong bowling group with exciting batting options and a group that fields exceptionally well.”
Rangarajan also spoke about bringing in former England fast bowler and 2017 World Cup winner Anya Shrubsole, who will join the support staff as the batting coach for the season.
“Anya is someone we’ve wanted on board for a while, and she has been involved with us over the last couple of weeks through the retention and auction planning phase. She brings a wealth of experience, having represented England successfully and captained teams across different leagues. You can already see the calmness, clarity and insight she adds to the group. She’s been brilliant so far, and we believe she will make an even bigger impact through the tournament.”
Before the auction, RCB kept Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, and Ellyse Perry on their team.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad:
Lauren Bell (INR 90 Lakhs), Pooja Vastrakar (INR 85 Lakhs), Grace Harris (INR 75 Lakhs), Arundhati Reddy (INR 75 Lakhs), Nadine de Klerk (INR 65 Lakhs), Radha Yadav (INR 65 Lakhs), Georgia Voll (INR 60 Lakhs), Linsey Smith (INR 30 Lakhs), Dayalan Hemalatha (INR 30 Lakhs), Prema Rawat (RTM, INR 20 Lakhs), Gautami Naik (INR 10 Lakhs), Prathyoosha Kumar (INR 10 Lakhs), Smriti Mandhana (retained), Richa Ghosh (retained), Shreyanka Patil (retained) and Ellyse Perry (retained).