Pooja Vastrakar Ruled Out of Early WPL 2026 Matches
Royal Challenge Bangalore (RCB) had a spectacular day at the opening round in WPL 2026. They start the tournament with a despairing win against the old reigning champions, the Mumbai Indians. It was a great victory with style for the team. However, during the match, the key highlight was the star player Pooja Vastrakar. The India all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar was out of selection since, with a new injury concern. The 26-year-old has a hamstring injury and will probably stay out of the tournament for two or more weeks.
RCB has confirmed Vastrakar's injury right now
Speaking in-the-match and post-match conference, Malolan Rangarajan, the head coach for RCB, revealed that Vastrakar injured her leg. The statement came shortly before assessments at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE). She recovered from her shoulder injury there. The Team Management has shown that the injury would cause delays in her tournament comeback She will miss the first phases of the WPL tournament.
The coach Rangarajan said that it will now be assessed on a week to week basis. The 2-week recovery will be required as per the fitnes experts. It would thus mean that Vastrakar is almost certainly going to miss quite a number of matches WPL matches. RCB will be looking to maintain momentum without a star player.
🚨 RCB's Pooja Vastrakar ruled out for at least 2 weeks with hamstring injury
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) January 10, 2026
She picked up the injury at the CoE and will spend 2 further weeks at the facility pic.twitter.com/gixtZ5aRel
From Rehab for the Shoulder to Issues with the Hamstring
After the T20 World Cup, she did not play a single match at any competitive level until October 2024 as she had shoulder surgery. After that, she has rehabilitated at the CoE in Bengaluru.
As soon as this hurdle had started to look under control, the other hurdle popped up with this hamstring injury. While hamstring strains are quite common in fast bowlers, the timing is yet again delayed her comeback. This has brought up concerns about her workload management going forward.
"Pooja (Vastrakar) was supposed to be relieved by third week of December from COE after her shoulder rehab but couple of days earlier to that, she tweaked her hamstring. Now so she will join us after couple of weeks hopefully"
— RCB Xtra (@Rcb_Xtra) January 9, 2026
Malolan (Head coach) on Pooja's availability 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/mEMEtDchkz
Expectations Were High After the Mega Auction
RCB made a big investment of ₹85 lakh on Vastrakar during the mega auction before season 4 of the WPL. At that point, Rangarajan called her a player who was a perfect fit and a significant asset to team balance.
Her contribution in all departments was intended to give RCB more freedom in team combinations. Unfortunately, those plans have now had to be put on hold as the franchise has decided to adopt a cautious approach toward her recovery.
RCB Found a Way Without Her
After the loss of an important player, RCB showed greath depth and character during the first match against Mumbai Indians. The innings was held together by South African all-rounder Nadine De Klerk’s match-winning, unbeaten fifty. She took RCB to the the good score at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. While the immediate pressure from this win may intermittently lift, the long-term imbalance will still remain with teams posing a far greater challenge. She could have made quite an impression with experience and pace.
A Career Interrupted by Injuries
Vastrakar’s recent injury is now a natural extension to the long history of injury. In the early days, many felt that she could be an able successor of the senior Indian pacers like Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey.
But due to recurrent knee injuries, ACL troubles, and then of late a shoulder and hamstring injuries, she was always having to stay away for long periods from cricket. These interruptions have completely taken away her rhythm. This is also depriving her from playing major tournaments for India and franchise teams.
Pooja Vastrakar, whose last competitive game was in October 2024, will miss the first two weeks of RCB's WPL 2026 campaign
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 10, 2026
▶️ https://t.co/QpOmFgVBVB pic.twitter.com/yEYcP2nJkL
Careful Return
Keeping international calendar ahead in mind, RCB and the Indian team management has decide to go easy with Vastrakar. Otherwise, bringing back her into the fold too quickly may risk aggravating the injury. The most likely scenario is probably for her to be slowly reintegrated into the side for the second part of WPL.
At the moment, the focus will be on rehabilitation and a full return. In the event of a successful recovery, Vastrakar has the chance of being included as a late addition to the tournament.
FAQs
Why had Pooja Vastrakar been absent in RCBs 1st WPL 2026 match?
Due to the hamstring injury, Pooja Vastrakar been absent in RCBs 1st WPL 2026 match.
What is the expected prognosis of the time of recovery for Pooja Vastrakar's absence?
She has been ruled out for a minimum of two weeks. However, according to the RCB head coach, further comments may be made in another week.
Was Pooja Vastrakar in recovery from some previous injury?
Yes, she was recovering from shoulder surgery that she had done in 2024.
