The Women’s Premier League (WPL) is only three seasons old and only two of five teams have managed to win a title – Mumbai Indians twice in 2023 & 2025 and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
There’s, however, only one player in the short history of the tournament who has won the title with both the teams. South African Nadine de Klerk, who became a household name after guiding her team to victory against India in Women’s World Cup 2025 league stage match, is the player to win WPL titles with RCB in 2024 and MI in 2025 – her presence definitely boosts team’s chances to win the WPL trophy.
WPL’s lucky charm – Nadine de Klerk
The Protea didn’t play in the first season of WPL in 2023 but was picked by RCB ahead of the second season in 2024. The Bengaluru based franchise had never won a title in IPL – WPL’s sister franchise for men – but the women won franchise’s first title in the domestic T20 tournament in 2024. Nadine de Klerk played only one match in the season – taking two wickets and scoring just one run.
Come next season, de Klerk was released by the franchise before being picked by inaugural champions Mumbai Indians. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side went on to win the title for the second time despite de Klerk not getting a single match to play in the tournament.
World Cup 2025 heroics
The South African has been a regular fixture in the international side since making her debut in 2017. She has played 58 WODIs, scoring 934 runs and taking 68 wickets. In WT20Is, the all-rounder has played 68 matches for 660 runs and 51 wickets.
In the recently-concluded Women’s World Cup 2025, she scored 84 not out in league stage match against India to guide her team to the victory in one of the sensational chases in the WODIs history.
While the all-rounder has not been retained by MI ahead of the upcoming WPL mega auction, de Klerk is expected to attract more than a few bids.