Malolan Rangarajan on how Tejal Hasabnis and Vrinda Dinesh fit the bill at RCB for WPL 2027

Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Malolan Rangarajan believes Tejal Hasabnis and Vrinda Dinesh give RCB valuable new batting options, after the Indian pair was signed by the franchise at the WPL 2027 Auction in Kochi.

RCB signed Tejal for INR 30 lakh and Vrinda for INR 10 lakh, filling the Indian batting slots left by the releases of Dayalan Hemalatha and Gautami Naik.

Speaking after the WPL 2027 Auction, Malolan revealed that Tejal had been on RCB’s radar for some time, having attended the franchise’s trials over the last two seasons.

Malolan said, “Let’s talk about Tejal (Hasabnis) first. Tejal has been coming to our trials for the last couple of years. We’ve kept a close eye on her. But beyond that, she herself has been playing for the country in the 50-over format. But if you look at her numbers across T20 also, when she’s played for India A and for Maharashtra, it’s been exceptional.”

The head coach added that Hasabnis fits a specific role RCB were looking to fill in the middle order.

He stated, “She came to our trials, we really like the way she batted. We were looking for a particular No.4 batter. If ever we choose to play a batter at No.4, she fits the bill. She’s got very good resilience, is what we noticed. Her ability to score runs was exceptional. So we’re very excited with Tejal.”

Vrinda, meanwhile, will turn out for RCB as a local favourite, and Malolan admitted he had not expected the franchise to land her.

He mentioned, “And as far as Vrinda (Dinesh) is concerned, a girl from Bangalore, very happy to have her. I was a little surprised that we ended up with her. I was expecting her to go to different teams. As I told her, she’d know what I’m talking about during the trials. But again, very happy. She’s also had a rollicking India A series. She’s been performing really well. Gives us another option up top as an opener. So yeah, very happy with the two Indian girls who’ve joined our team.”

RCB now have 11 Indian and six overseas players in their squad for WPL 2027, which runs from January 14th to February 7th.