WPL 2026: Major blow for UP Warriorz as star batter ruled out, replacement named

UP Warriorz (UPW) have named England wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones as a replacement for Phoebe Litchfield, who has been ruled out for the rest of the WPL 2026 due to injury. Litchfield suffered a quad injury and has returned to Australia for rehabilitation ahead of the upcoming home series against India, starting on Feb 15, according to a Cricket Australia spokesperson. The 22-year-old Litchfield was in excellent form for UP Warriorz, ending the season as the team’s highest run-scorer and the third-highest overall. She scored 243 runs in six matches and played an important role for her team at the top of the batting order.

Jones, who went unsold at the auction has been signed at her base price of INR 50 lakh and is expected to strengthen both the batting line-up and wicketkeeping options for the remainder of the tournament. The experienced England player has featured in 125 T20 Internationals and 111 ODIs and has also played in the leagues such as the WBBL and The Hundred.

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UPW last played on Jan 22, when they lost to Gujarat Giants by 45 runs and the defeat left them at the bottom of the points table with the lowest net run rate among the five teams. To make the playoffs, they must win both of their remaining matches and also improve their net run rate. UPW will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday, followed by a match against Delhi Capitals on Feb 1.

UP Warriorz updated squad

Kiran Navgire, Meg Lanning (c), Amy Jones, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Deandra Dottin, Shikha Pandey, Shweta Sehrawat (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Asha Sobhana, Kranti Gaud, Chloe Tryon, Charli Knott, Simran Shaikh, Shipra Giri, Pratika Rawal, Gongadi Trisha and Suman Meena