Royal Challengers Bengaluru Appoint Malolan Rangarajan As Head Coach Ahead Of WPL 2026, Replacing Luke Williams

Women's Premier League: Ahead of the 2026 edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Thursday, November 6, announced Malolan Rangarajan as the head coach of the women's team.

Malolan Rangarajan took over the charges from Luke Williams. Earlier, Rangarajan served as the assistant coach in the last two seasons. Royal Challengers won the Women's Premier League title in 2024 under the guidance of Luke Williams and his deputy, Malolan Rangarajan.

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Malolan Rangarajan Reflects On His Appointment

While speaking on his new role in the franchise, Malolan Rangarajan said that he is excited and honoured after being appointed as the new head coach of the RCB women's team. He added that it will be an exciting challenge ahead of the WPL 2026 auction.

“I’m very excited and honoured to be appointed Head Coach of the women’s team. I want to acknowledge Luke’s contribution and impact, which led to RCB’s title win in 2024. The upcoming mega auction presents an exciting challenge, giving us the chance to shape the next phase of the squad while having a strong core to consider for retentions,” Rangarajan said as quoted in a release from the franchise.

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Malolan Rangarajan's Numbers In Domestic Cricket

Even though Malolan Rangarajan has not played for India. But the 36-year-old had been a renowned name in domestic cricket. Rangarajan represented Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand in domestic cricket. In first-class cricket, Rangarajan played 47 matches and 56 innings, scoring 1379 runs at a strike rate of 47.88 and a batting average of 28.14. He also picked up 136 wickets from 73 first-class innings at an economy rate of 2.93 and a bowling average of 28.98.

In List A, the all-rounder scored 123 runs from 10 matches and six innings at a strike rate of 80.92 and an average of 24.60. Meanwhile, he also picked up 10 wickets from 10 List A innings at an economy rate of 3.67 and an average of 30.30.