Gujarat Giants will hope their bowlers complement the batters and fielding shows overall improvement after a crushing defeat in the Women’s Premier League season opener, when they take on the UP Warriorz here on Sunday. Gujarat Giants produced a unified batting show to set a commanding 202-run target against the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru but their bowling frailties were exposed in the first game of the season itself when as many as six options also could not contain the opposition batters.

Richa Ghosh was dropped on the first ball she faced and the India wicketkeeper-batter made GG pay a hefty price for the mistake, striking 64 off only 26 balls (7x4s, 4x6s) to quickly turn the tables.

GG’ Tanuja Kanwar had also spilled Ellyse Perry’s catch when she was batting on two. The Australian great too made the most of the reprieve as she hit a 34-ball 57 to anchor RCB’s record chase.

Gujarat Giants had earlier produced a fine batting show with fifties from former skipper Beth Mooney (56) and incumbent leader Ashleigh Gardner (79 not out) propelling them to 201 for five on a fresh surface here at the Kotambi Stadium.

The opening game of the third season here on Friday was not just the highest match aggregate in WPL but also witnessed highest run chase, implying that batters will continue to make merry and the bowlers will have to keep evolving new plans.

With only one day to turn their focus on the second match, the Giants will be challenged to regroup and find ways to execute better with the ball and the field.

On the other hand, UP Warriorz would take the field under a new captain, India’s Deepti Sharma, after their regular skipper Alyssa Healy opted out of the competition due to a string of injuries.

Deepti has been a vital cog in the Indian teams across formats but the 27-year-old veteran hasn’t held any leadership role with the national side in nearly a decade.

On their part, spin bowling could be described as UP Warriorz’ biggest strength this season after the team which finished fourth in the five-team league last year added Australia’s Alana King to their roster which already boasts of England’s Sophie Ecclestone.

King had a successful run in the women’s Ashes taking nine wickets in the only Tests as well as 17 more wickets in the limited-overs series. Along with King and Ecclestone, the Warriorz have India’s Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti, Gouher Sultana as well as others in Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu and Grace Harris.

Their overall firepower pits Warriorz as the favourites for this clash given they have the formidable trio of Tahlia McGrath, Harris and Athapaththu to pick from in the batting.

The Indian talent strength is also impressive with the likes of young batters Uma Chetry, Vrinda Dinesh, Arushi Goel and the experienced Kiran Navgire in the mix, while among bowlers Saima Thakor will be looking to add a few wickets to her kitty after a dry run in the series against West Indies and Ireland.

Teams:

Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner (c), Bharti Fulmali, Laura Wolvaardt, Phoebe Litchfield, Simran Shaikh, Danielle Gibson, Dayalan Hemalatha, Deandra Dottin, Harleen Deol, Sayali Satghare, Tanuja Kanwar, Beth Mooney (wk), Kashvee Gautam, Mannat Kashyap, Meghna Singh, Prakashika Naik, Priya Mishra, Shabnam Shakil.

UP Warriorz: Deepti Sharma (c), Arushi Goel, Kiran Navgire, Shweta Sehrawat, Vrinda Dinesh, Chamari Athapaththu, Chinelle Henry, Grace Harris, Kranti Goud, Poonam Khemnar, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Uma Chetry (wk), Alana King, Anjali Sarvani, Gouher Sultana, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Saima Thakor.

Match starts at 7:30pm IST. 

Uncapped batter Simran Shaikh expressed her desire to meet India stalwart Virat Kohli and outlined her goal to represent the Indian national team. Simran made the headlines after Gujarat Giants broke the bank in the recent Women’s Premier League 2025 auction. The franchise roped in Simran for Rs 1.9 crore. She also became the most expensive buy of the afternoon on Sunday. The young batter revealed that Virat is her favourite player and her goal is to represent India, for which she is making all the efforts.

“My dream is to meet Virat Kohli once. I just want a jersey of India and that is why I am making all these efforts,” Simran told ANI.

Delhi Capitals and the Gujarat-based franchise came into the bidding war for the uncapped batter. Her base price was Rs 5 lakh and made her way to the Giants with a whopping amount of Rs 1.9 crore.

In the inaugural season of the tournament, Simran played for the Gujarat-based franchise and featured in nine games.

Simran feels it is her responsibility to contribute to the franchise and added, “I thank the GG (Gujarat Giants) family. After getting such a huge amount, it’s now my responsibility to perform for them. I thank my parents because there is not much support for such things in my community, but they always supported me.”

Reflecting on the auction, head coach Michael Klinger said the team’s priority was to acquire players who could make an impact in the playing eleven and Simran is a valuable addition to the team.

“Simran Shaikh is another valuable addition to the team. She brings a lot of power and has an impressive strike rate. There are only a handful of players in women’s cricket who can do that. I think she will create healthy competition among the Indian batters for a spot in the team, which is exactly what you want in a squad,” Klinger noted.

Gujarat Giants full squad for WPL 2025: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnam Shakil, Tanuja Kanwer, Phoebe Litchfield, Meghna Singh, Kashvee Gautam, Priya Mishra, Mannat Kashyap, Bharti Fulmali, Sayali Satghare, Deandra Dottin, Simran Shaikh, Danielle Gibson, and Prakashika Naik.

As expected, all-rounders were in demand at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 auction in Bengaluru on Sunday. While West Indies Deandra Dottin was the costliest overseas buy at Rs 1.7 crore, uncapped Indian all-rounder Simran Shaikh was the most expensive player at Sunday’s auction, fetching Rs 1.9 crore. Both Dottin and Shaikh were sold to the Gujarat Giants. While G Kamalini, 16, got a jaw-dropping deal of Rs 1.6 crore, the highlight of the even was Gujarat’s bid for Shaikh.

Who is Simran Shaikh?

Simran Banu Shaikh, commonly known as Simran Shaikh, was born on January 12, 2002 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. She was part of the UP Warriorz squad in the inaugural edition in 2022, but was released ahead of the next season owning to poor performance. The 22-year-old went unsold last season. 

Simran’s father is an electrician. She has four sisters and five brothers. She first picked up cricket at the age of 15, playing with boys in her localty of Dharavi, Mumbai. However, Simran’s cricketing journey started after she joined the United Club.

After impressing in local leagues, Simran was selected in Mumbai’s U19 women’s team. Simran, 22, a middle-order batter, played a few matches for UP Warriorz during the 2023 WPL season. She has made 176 runs in 11 matches for Mumbai at 22 with a strike rate of 100.57 during the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy in October-November this year.

All-rounder Dottin, who is currently in India with the West Indies team for the white-ball series, was the costliest among overseas players and was bought by the Giants for the second time in the auction.

Dottin, 33, a veteran of 132 WT20Is, was one of the three players with base price of Rs 50 lakh and saw UP Warriorz too make a wholehearted bid for her before Gujarat Giants upped the amount.

Dottin was signed by Gujarat Giants for Rs 60 lakh ahead of WPL 2023, but could not play the tournament as the franchise failed to obtain a medical certificate before the season. Dottin had refuted the claims made by the franchise.

Gujarat Giants coach Michael Klinger, speaking to the broadcaster, said that both Dottin and Simran were on their radar for quite some time.

“We were targeting Dottin and Simran. They bring in power and batting at a high strike rate. That often creates a winning culture, so I’m really excited for our first two picks,” said Klinger.

(With PTI Inputs)