With the just days away from start, the defending champions, have been handed several blows.

With injuries piling up in the international roster, veteran all-rounder Sophie Devine and England all-rounder Kate Cross are the latest to bow out of the upcoming edition of the WPL, set to commence from February 14.

As confirmed by the Bengaluru-based franchise, the veteran Kiwi all-rounder has decided to take a break from the game, whereas the England pacer will miss the upcoming edition due to a back injury. Notably, Cross was part of RCB's title winning campaign, but did not feature in a single match in 2024.

RCB Women call-up Australian duo of Heather Graham and Kim Garth as Devine and Cross' replacements

Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), RCB wrote, "Kiwi all-rounder Sophie Devine is taking a break from cricket for her well-being, and English speedster Kate Cross will miss the season due to a back injury.' In the same post, the franchise also confirmed their replacement as they roped in Heather Graham and Kim Garth for a price sum of INR 30 Lakh respectively.

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The Aussie all-rounder Heather Graham has played five T20Is and has picked eight wickets. On the other hand, her teammate, Kim Garth has represented Australia in 59 T20Is, 56 ODIs and four Tests, amassing 746 T20I runs and scalping 49 T20I wickets. Furthermore, she previously featured in Gujarat Giants (GG) in the cash-rich league.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad for WPL 2025

Smriti Mandhana (c), Sabbineni Meghana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Singh, Charlie Dean, Ekta Bisht, Kanika Ahuja, Danni Wyatt, Prema Rawat, Joshitha VJ, Raghvi Bist, Jagravi Pawar, heather Graham, Kim Garth