WPL | Onus on overseas stars to shine for Giants

Horses for courses: Gardner will look to make the best use of the available resources.
| Photo Credit: File Photo: Emmanual Yogini

Gujarat Giants’ journey in the Women’s Premier League has been riddled with disappointment since the very start.

Having finished with the wooden spoon in 2023 and 2024, the franchise fared a tad better last year by finishing third in the league stage to qualify for the Eliminator. But on the big day, the Giants were well short of the standards needed to overcome Harmanpreet Kaur’s Mumbai Indians.

Punch above its weight

For 2026 to bring about a change of fortune, GG’s 18-member playing contingent will have to punch considerably above its weight.

The Giants management went into the mega auction last November with a purse of ₹9 crore, second only to UP Warriorz’s ₹14.5 crore among the five teams, but the frailties that crippled the team in previous editions appear to remain.

Having retained Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney, GG’s biggest investment at the auction table was the acquisition of 36-year-old all-rounder Sophie Devine for ₹2 crore.

While the former New Zealand captain, who retired from ODIs after the World Cup in November but intends to continue playing T20Is, adds significant might and experience to the Giants set-up, the absence of pedigreed Indian batters means that Devine, Gardner and Mooney will have to do the heavy-lifting in the top six. It may take wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia, who was ruled out of the ODI World Cup due to a knee injury, some time to find her groove.

In the pace department, too, the Giants appear to be light on experienced Indian players.

Renuka Singh is the exception, and the 30-year-old from Himachal will have to lend a helping hand to youngsters Kashvee Gautam and Titas Sadhu.

In 22-year-old Kashvee’s case, it remains to be seen whether she is able to live up to the expectations after a promising debut campaign (11 wickets in nine matches).

The onus of managing GG’s resources rests with Gardner. The 28-year-old Australian took over the reins from Mooney last year, and led the team to a maiden playoff appearance.

The added responsibility seemed to bring the best out of the all-rounder – she scored 243 runs in nine matches, including three half-centuries, at a blistering strike rate of 164.18 and claimed eight wickets with off-spin.

If the surfaces are conducive to spin in Navi Mumbai and Vadodara, Australian leg-spinner Georgia Wareham, who has been roped in for ₹1 crore, will also have to fire on all cylinders.

Otherwise, another disappointing season could unfold for the Giants.

The squad: Ashleigh Gardner (Capt.), Beth Mooney (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Bharti Fulmali, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Kanika Ahuja, Sophie Devine, Kim Garth, Kashvee Gautam, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Tanuja Kanwar, Renuka Singh, Titas Sadhu, Georgia Wareham, Happy Kumari, Anushka Sharma, Ayushi Soni, and Shivani Singh.