Charlie Dean, a spin-bowling all-round from England, has been called up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to replace injured Sophie Molineux in their 2025 Women Premier League squad. Due to a knee injury that would require surgery, Australian left-arm spinner Molineux could not play in their home Ashes series against England as well.
Sophie Molineux's injury
Molineux has been dealing with the knee injury for quite some time now and even managed the injury through WBBL in October and November last year. She has also captained Melbourne Renegades and even led them to a title victory despite missing four out of the 11 games.
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However, the issue flared up and got worse during the recent ODI series between Australia and India in Land Down Under. The star player featured in the second and third games of the series and picked up just one wicket in the 11 overs she bowled across those two games.
She will now be out of play for a longer period of time after missing the trip to New Zealand, which included three more ODIs. In December, Kate Beerworth, a physiotherapist from Australia, stated that "further updates on an anticipated return date" for Molineux would only be given following the operation, which is scheduled for this month. Prior to the 2025 WPL season, Molineux was signed by RCB. She had played for them during their 2024 championship run, taking 12 wickets at an average of 23.16 in ten games.
RCB names Charlie Dean as replacement
Dean has not yet made an appearance in the WPL yet. However, she has taken 46 wickets at an incredible average of 18.19 in 36 T20 Internationals for England. She has only taken one wicket in the first two ODIs of the ongoing Women's Ashes while playing for the English side in Australia. In addition, Dean played 30 games for London Spirit over four seasons starting in 2021 and represented the team in the women's Hundred.