"Those are choices players have to make": Heather Knight on missing RCB's glory for England tour

New Delhi [India], March 18 : England batting allrounder Heather Knight on Monday opened up on missing Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) glory in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 to take part in England's tour of New Zealand and said players have to make a choice and it was an "easy" decision for her.
Before the start of the WPL 2024, English captain Knight withdrew. South Africa all-rounder Nadine de Klerk was named by the Bengaluru-based franchise as her replacement.
Speaking to the media, Knight said that she wanted to be with England to help her team build up before the start of the T20I series against New Zealand.
"I was always going to come [to New Zealand], so that was quite an easy decision for me. As captain, I wanted to be here and I want to be around the team for the build-up, and those three games," Knight was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying.
The 33-year-old added that she could have left the WPL 2024 season a bit early, but the rules stopped her from doing that.
"The ideal world would have been to leave the WPL a little early, but that wasn't an option to do so, because of the rules about replacement players. We wanted to have someone available for the whole competition. Those are the choices that players have to make now, it can be quite tricky, but I think it's really important that it's made on an individual level," she added.
RCB won the WPL 2024 after beating Delhi Capitals (DC) by 8 wickets on Sunday.
Recapping the final match of the WPL 2024, DC won the toss and elected to bat first. Openers Shafali Varma (44 in 27 balls, with two fours and three sixes) and skipper Meg Lanning (23 in 23 balls, with three fours) started off really well for the team with a quickfire 64-run opening stand.
However, Shreyanka Patil (4/12), Sophie Molineux (3/20) and Asha Sobhana (2/14) helped RCB bounce back just after the powerplay and removed Delhi batters one-by-one, triggering an unfathomable batting collapse. DC was all out for 113 in 18.3 overs.
In the chase of 114, RCB put on a 49-run opening stand, powered by Sophie Devine (32 in 27 balls, with five fours and a six). However, RCB was tested by Delhi bowlers in middle overs and skipper Smriti Mandhana (31 in 39 balls, with three fours) departed at a crucial juncture to leave RCB at 82/2 in 15 overs. However, Ellyse Perry (35* in 37 balls, with four boundaries) and Richa Ghosh (17* in 14 balls, with two fours) finished the chase with three balls left.
Minnu Mani and Shikha Pandey took a wicket each for DC.