Harmanpreet Kaur out of WBBL with back issue

Melbourne Renegades allrounder Harmanpreet Kaur has been ruled out of the ongoing season of the WBBL with a back issue.

"Harmanpreet was fantastic for us last season and we were looking forward to having her as part of our squad again this year, but unfortunately she has been ruled out through injury," James Rosengarten, Renegades' general manager, said.

Harmanpreet, the India captain, was initially supposed to miss only the first two games because of her international commitments, with India playing in - and winning - the women's Asia Cup final. Simon Helmot, the Renegades coach, was confident of her joining the side for the rest of the campaign and had said that her workload would be carefully monitored after she reached Australia.

England batter Eve Jones was signed as an overseas replacement last week.

"Eve will stay on with our squad for at least the next couple of matches, as we work through the best strategy for our squad for the remainder of the tournament," Rosengarten said.

Harmanpreet was named Player of the Tournament last season after scoring 406 runs at a strike rate of 130.96, in addition to taking 15 wickets in 13 games. Renegades lost the Challenger against Adelaide Strikers and missed out on a chance to make the final.

In the ongoing season, they have one win from two games so far.

Harmanpreet's India team-mate Smriti Mandhana had earlier withdrawn from this season of the WBBL to manage her workload.