WPL 2026: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar has been ruled out for at least two weeks of the ongoing Women's Premier League due to a hamstring injury, the head coach Malolan Rangarajan confirmed.

The 26-year-old, who last featured in competitive cricket in the T20 World Cup last October, was acquired for Rs 85 lakh at the Women's Premier League auction, with the WPL expected to be her competitive return.

"Pooja Vastrakar was not available for selection (against Mumbai Indians)," the franchise's head coach Malolan Rangarajan said after the team's opening match here on Friday.

"Two weeks prior to her release from the CoE (Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru), she unfortunately tweaked her hamstring. The information that we have is that she will be there for two more weeks," he added.

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"Earlier, she was there (at the CoE) for her shoulder; now she has a hamstring issue. It's a week-by-week process. So let's see where she is at," Rangarajan said.

Riding on the back of Nadine de Klerk's all-round display, RCB defeated defending champions Mumbai Indians by three wickets in a last-ball thriller on Friday.

De Klerk turned the game on its head, claiming 4-26, and then smashed 63 off 44 to effortlessly chase down 155.

In the absence of Pooja, RCB gave the responsibility of bowling to recruits -- England left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, Arundhati Reddy and de Klerk as they worked to keep the opponents to 154/6.

Chasing the total, RCB were in a tough spot when they were reduced to 65 for 5, but de Klerk successfully docked the chase.

"The value of all-rounders came to the fore. My blood pressure is okay. I've gotten used to this. I've been with RCB for six years. Very good to be on the winning side," Rangarajan said.

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Heaping laurels on de Klerk, the coach said, "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)," Rangarajan further stated.